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Pasco Fair News

Wednesday, February 16, 2011

There will be plenty of reasons to “C’mon Get Happy” at this year’s 64th annual Pasco County Fair, slated for Monday, Feb. 21, through Sunday, Feb. 27, at the 40-acre fairgrounds in Dade City. Included will be a variety of entertainment that will put smiles on the faces of fairgoers --- particularly since all entertainment is free with gate admission, according to Tracy J. Thompson, fair chairman.
“The fair’s theme is ‘C’mon Get Happy’ and we think fair patrons will be (happy) with the selection of entertainment we have lined up for them,” Thompson said.
Highlighting that selection will be Mallory Lewis and her loveable sock puppet Lamb Chop.
Lewis is the daughter of Shari Lewis who first introduced Lamb Chop to the world in 1956 as a guest on “Captain Kangaroo.” Children and adults both fell in love with Lamb Chop --- a love affair that spanned Shari Lewis’ career that resulted in 12 Emmy Awards.
Shari Lewis died in 1998 at age 65 while undergoing cancer treatments. It wasn’t long before her daughter brought Lamb Chop back into the spotlight, appearing at live and televised events.
Mallory Lewis was already seasoned when she teamed up with Lamb Chop. She had begun her career at age 12 as a ghostwriter for her mother’s newspaper column. She later wrote and produced the Lamb Chop’s Play-Along Show and assumed responsibilities of her mother’s three prime-time variety specials and also served as executive story editor and produced The Charlie Horse Music Pizza, another of her mother’s puppet characters.
Today Lewis and Lamb Chop entertain at various venues throughout the country and, like her mother, Lewis has won numerous awards, penned children’s novels, and is a multiple Emmy Award nominee and Emmy Award winner for Outstanding Writing in a Children’s Series.
She and Lamb Chop will be presenting three shows daily at the Pasco County Fair. Their shows will be at the Back Porch Theatre where popular magician, illusionist and hypnotist Ron Diamond will also be performing three shows each day.
“Ron really needs no introduction to anyone who has ever been to the Pasco County Fair in recent years,” Thompson said. “He’s become a staple here. His popularity is evident by the crowds that gather at each of his shows, each show offering a different focus. And with audience participation, each show is always different.”
Diamond began dabbling in magic at the age of 6. But it wasn’t until college that he performed professionally to earn extra money while attending Texas Christian University where he studied clinical psychology. By the time he graduated he had 200 shows under his belt and was on the way to a career in the magic business. He first worked for Walt Disney Productions but after eight years he ventured out on his own and today performs some 900 shows each year.
Diamond added hypnotism to his show in 1999 after becoming certified as a clinical hypnotist. The hypnotist show has grown to become one of his most popular of his three daily shows at the Pasco fair, Thompson said.
Also performing three shows daily will be Kenny Ahern, a physical comic whose life’s philosophy is “to laugh is to live.”
Ahern’s comic career started in 1983 when he auditioned for Ringling Brothers and Barnum and Bailey Circus. That was thousands of performances and laughs ago.
Ahern has taken master classes in physical comedy, studied with The Soviet National School for the Circus and Variety Acts, and trained at Ringling Brothers and Barnum and Bailey Clown College. But he has learned most, he said, from his audiences throughout the world. Those audiences have been at state fairs throughout the country; with Ringling Brothers and Barnum and Bailey Circus; the China International Children Arts Festival in Taiwan; Variete Theatre Festival in Singapore; 2005 World Expo in Japan; The Brooks and Dunne Neon Circus and Wild West Tour; The International Street Performers Vaudeville Festival in Alberta, Canada; The Moscow Circus School, Russia; The White House; and The Disneyland Grand Ballroom Theatre.
Ahern is also an accomplished educator, having served as a faculty member with Ringling Brothers and Barnum and Bailey Clown College, the University of Wisconsin, LaCrosse’s Clown Camp. He has also guest lectured for the drama departments of the University of Virginia, and DePaul University, and presented workshops for the University of Minnesota/Guthrie Theater Bachelor of Fine Arts Actor Training Program.
Ahern’s performances at the Pasco County Fair are sponsored by Smile Design of Dade City.
Other daily shows at the fair will include Robinson’s Racing Pigs and The Fearless Flores Show.
Robinson’s Racing Pigs now also includes the Paddling Porker Show where the pigs dive into a 24-foot swimming pool to race.
Paul and Carlota Robinson started racing pigs in 1985 at the Florida State Fair and before the performance ended the pigs were booked at 12 other fairs and on national television shows. Even after the Robinsons’ deaths, the pigs have continued racing and continue to be a top fair attraction, Thompson said.
The Fearless Flores Show is also a long-time popular fair attraction, spanning 10 generations of circus performers.
Arcelia and Ricardo Flores grew up as circus performers and are now raising their children, 12-year-old Cyndel and 7-year-old Volarian, to carry their tradition into the 10th generation. Their thrill show includes a number of acts, but the favorite is usually the Globe of Death where multiple motorcyclists race in a 14-foot sphere.
The Fearless Flores Show has performed on “Extra” and ESPN2, as well as at state fairs, amusement parks, and other locations throughout the country.
Robinson’s Racing Pigs will be located near the livestock barn with three shows daily, while the Fearless Flores Show will be situated near the Kiddy Land of the carnival, also performing three shows daily.
Roaming the fairgrounds each day will be Richard Renner with his Recycle Cycle. The Recycle Cycle is a rolling activity center created entirely of reclaimed or recycled parts put to the task of educating and entertaining. Known as “the Goofball Garbage Man,” Renner’s rolling lesson in the value of the environment and its resources is delivered with fun and function as he stops to perform a show of juggling, balancing and stunts, all using recovered trash and recycled humor.
While Renner is roaming, Michelle Harrell will be stationary as Statue Viva near the food court.
Harrell began performing in San Francisco in 1994 as a living doll character for special events. She took her act to Europe and returned to the United States with a partner in 1998 as Les Statues Vivantes, the Living Statues. For three years Harrell has performed as a solo artist as Statue Viva at the Hilton Resort in Key West, as well as events throughout the U.S.
There is also featured entertainment on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday at Dan Cannon Auditorium. The Dennis Lee Show will be on Tuesday; Little Roy and Lizzy Show, bluegrass music, Wednesday; and The Nelons and LeFevre Quartet, Southern gospel music, Thursday.
All entertainment is free with gate entertainment. Gate entertainment is $8 for adults and $5 for children ages 6 through 12. Parking is free.
For a complete schedule of events, visit the Web site: www.pascocountyfair.com or call the Fair Office, (352) 567-6678.
The Pasco County Fair Association Inc. does not discriminate against any person on the basis of age, race, color, sex, disability, religion or national origin.��

Fair Musicians
While livestock shows, the midway rides and fair food bring many to the Pasco County Fair, another group of faithful fairgoers attend to hear their favorite musicians perform at Gospel Music Night.
“We introduced Gospel Music Night many years ago to give our fair more diversity. And it proved to be very successful,” said Tracy J. Thompson, annual fair chairman. “We have been blessed to have some of the biggest names in Southern gospel music perform and, again this year, two of those will take the stage: The Nelons and LeFevre Quartet.”
Both will perform two concerts at 5 and 8 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 24, at Dan Cannon Auditorium. The doors will open 30 minutes prior to each show.
The performances are free with gate admission to the fair. Gate admission is $8 for adults and $5 for children ages 6 through 12. Parking is free.
Although classified as bluegrass music, another popular musician who grew up with bluegrass gospel roots will grace the auditorium stage on Wednesday, Feb. 23. “Little Roy” Lewis grew up performing with the famous Lewis Family.
As the youngest son of Mom and Pop Lewis, Little Roy began playing banjo at age 6 and won numerous awards as a member of The Lewis Family and individually.
When his famed family retired in 2009 after nearly 45 years and more than 60 albums, Little Roy teamed up with his foster daughter, Elizabeth “Lizzy” Long.
Long, who was born in the Lewis Family’s hometown of Lincolnton, Ga., started playing piano as a child but soon took up fiddle, guitar, autoharp, bass, banjo and mandolin.
The Little Roy and Lizzy Show will also be presented at 5 and 8 p.m. Wednesday, with the doors opening 30 minutes prior to each show.
“The Lewis Family had become a tradition at the Pasco County Fair,” Thompson said. “They had been performing here year after year --- at least 10 years. So when they retired, we decided to invite Little Roy and Lizzy to come and the crowd just loved them. That was lasts year so we are excited to have them come back to carry on the Lewis Family tradition.”
While the Lewis Family is well known the bluegrass circles, the LeFevre name is a household name in the gospel music world, Thompson said.
The original LeFevre Trio began singing across the country in 1921, setting the standards for Southern gospel music. By the 1960s, as part of the Gospel Singing Caravan television show, the group was a household name. However the fate of the group was unknown after the original LeFevres retired in the 1970s.
But Mylon LeFevre resurrected the name in the 1980s and 1990s and once again their music soared to the tops of Christian music charts. Today, LeFevre Quartet includes Mike LeFevre, baritone, who was voted “Favorite Baritone Singer” three consecutive years by fans at Singing News Fan Awards during his seven-year run with one of gospel music’s most awarded quartets, Gold City. He is nephew of the original LeFevre Trio. His son, Jordan LeFevre, who plays drums, has been part of the group since the beginning. Others in the LeFevre Quartet include David Station, lead vocal and songwriter; Jeremy Easley, tenor; and Keith Inman, bass.
The Nelons is a family trio that includes Kelly Nelon Clark, her daughter Amber Thompson, and husband, Jason Clark.
Clark’s father, Rex Nelon, was hired in 1955 to sing bass for the LeFevres. In 1973 he assumed direction of the group that eventually became known as the Rex Nelon Singers and is today The Nelons. He mentored his daughter and she continues to carry on the family tradition by heading the group.
The Nelons current single, “Settled at the Cross,” was number 30 on the Singing News Top 100 music chart for the month of January. The Nelons can be seen regularly on the Bill Gaither Homecoming concerts, television shows and videos.
“It is really exciting to have both groups with us this year. They both basically got their start with the legendary gospel music name LeFevre,” Thompson said.��

Bargain Day
Fairgoers looking for a bargain during these hard economic times need to circle Tuesday, Feb. 22, on their calendars.
Tuesday will feature a $3 gate admission for all ages and parking is free. Fair hours are 3 to 11 p.m. The midway will also feature a wristband special for $16 where fairgoers purchasing wristbands can ride all the rides an unlimited number of times. The midway opens at 4 p.m.
“We expect a large crowd for the $3 admission, as well as the ride special,” said Tracy J. Thompson, annual fair chairman. “In addition, we have special entertainment on Tuesday with the Dennis Lee Show in Dan Cannon Auditorium.”
The Dennis Lee Show, slated for 5 and 7:30 p.m., is free with gate admission.
Dennis Lee hit the entertainment scene in 1987 and has been gathering fans ever since. He has performed for more than a million fans at countless events and functions that include opening for pop superstar Sheryl Crow, country music artist Chris LeDoux, Lee Greenwood, and the legendary Beach Boys.
Lee is a showman and master of improvisation, wearing many hats that include his own inimitable music and comedy show; a clown and mime; a television and radio host; and an entertainer extraordinaire. He performs several genres of music, including country and pop, nostalgia, old time rock and roll, patriotic ballads, and Elvis Presley favorites. Lee also keeps his shows fresh with topical jokes and his off-the-wall humor.
Wade Shows will be the midway provider, bringing more than 30 rides that will include spectacular thrill rides, a vast selection of kiddy rides, and old favorites, such as the merry-go-round and bumper cars.
The midway will feature wristband ride specials each of the seven fair days, Monday, Feb. 21, through Sunday, Feb. 27. Wristbands are $16 each day, Monday through Thursday and $20 Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. The wristbands are in addition to gate admission.
Gate admission, besides Tuesday, is $8 for adults and $5 for children ages 6 through 12. Parking is free.
For more information about fair activities, visit the Web site: www.pascocountyfair.com or call the Fair Office, (352) 567-6678.
The Pasco County Fair Association Inc. does not discriminate against any person on the basis of age, race, color, sex, disability, religion or national origin.

Demolition Derby
The fourth annual Pasco County Fair Demolition Derby will be held at 2 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 27, at the 64th annual Pasco County Fair on the Pasco County Fairgrounds in Dade City. The demolition derby, sponsored by Covanta Energy and produced by Stoney Roberts Promotions of Tennessee, is open to all licensed drivers age 18 and older. Drivers ages 16 are allowed with a notarized parental medical statement. The entry fee is $25 and winners divide a purse of $1,300 cash and also receive trophies.
Entries are accepted until noon Sunday, Feb. 27.
All drivers must supply their own cars. Cars are limited to two per driver. All drivers and cars must be entered and at the track two hours before the 2 p.m. demolition derby starting time. A complete list of rules and regulations, along with entry forms, are available online at www.pascocountyfair.com or www.stoneyroberts.com; and at the Pasco County Fair Office, 36722 State Road 52, Dade City. For more information, call Stoney Roberts Promotions, toll-free at (888) 361-5767.
Spectator admission to the demolition derby is free with gate admission to the fair. Gate admission is $8 for adults and $5 for children ages 6 through 12. Parking is free.
The Pasco County Fair runs Monday, Feb. 21, through Sunday, Feb. 27. For more information, visit the Web site or call the Fair Office, (352) 567-6678.��