By Staff
SLIDING AWAY – Asija McWilliams, 8, of Meridian, throws her hands up as she gets ready to fly down the Fun Slide at the Queen City Fair. The second annual event continues through Saturday at the Lauderdale County Agri-Center. Photo by Paula Merritt/The Meridian Star
By William F. West / community editor
Oct. 2, 2002
The Queen City Fair was for the young and the young-at-heart on Tuesday night.
The scene was one of steady streams of parents either carrying or pushing their children in strollers to the petting zoo, the Shetland pony rides and many other attractions.
Throughout the evening, adults said the event was one they would bring their children to next year and in years to come. The large number of children surprised at least one mother at the fair.
Gewin is a part-time teller for Great Southern National Bank. Her husband, Anthony, is the home improvement manager for Sears. They were carrying their 10-month-old son, Isaac.
Annual event
The Gewins were among hundreds of people enjoying a night at the Queen City Fair featuring live shows, a petting zoo, food booths and an extensive carnival midway of rides and games.
The event, in its second year, continues daily through Saturday at the Lauderdale County Agri-Center.
Betty Hopson of Meridian was at the fair with her 2-year-old son, Adrian, for a return trip after a visit Sunday.
Vickie Moseley, a teacher at Quitman Junior High School, was keeping her eyes on the bumper cars, whose drivers were about to include her two children, Melanie and Trent.
The evening crowd also provided business for the concessionaires.
Concession work
At a nearby booth, Peggy King of Collinsville was supervising a group of boys who were promoting Chick-Fil-A so they could earn money to go a Bible conference. King said she is a member of the same church as the operator of Chick-Fil-A in Meridian. She said he donated sandwiches so the boys could sell them, with the profits to be divided among the boys who worked.
The boys also passed out yellow cards that read: "Smile, God loves you and so do we."
A big attraction at the fair was Pat Kelley's petting zoo, with animals as large as a kissing llama to as small as a 1-week-old goat.