Here in Lincoln County, school cannot start unless theBrookhaven Exchange Club Fair starts first. Since the early 1950s,for several generations of Lincoln Countians, the two events gohand in hand. Few who live in this area have not spent their lastdays of summer riding the Ferris wheel and swings and playing thegames on the midway or just roaming the grounds of the fair.

My first fair days go back to the early ’60s when sawdustcovered the ground to keep the dust down or suck up some of themoisture from afternoon showers. A rite of passage was when onereached the age to hit the fair without parental supervision. Backin those days, all it took was five bucks in hand, and the nightwas ours.

It was the mid-’80s that the fair again became a Jacobs familyevent. On July 1, my girls began counting the days until the fairstarted. At the same time, I counted the number of potential timesI would have to join them riding swings and the Ferris wheel. It isamazing how your perspective changes on the fun of flying throughthe trees in equal proportion to the number of years that havepassed since grammar school. In fact, this year I put my foot downand told my youngest, “you’re on your own, girl!”

Of course, the fair is not just an event for the young and youngat heart, it is a family event for the many “fair families” who puton the fair. These families have dedicated their late-summer nightsto putting on the annual event. Vacations are planned around it;children come home to renew friendships, help and experience thefellowship fair week brings.

“Plootchie” and Virginia Ratliff as well as Frank and Kay Burnsare two of the many fair families who have given untold time forthe past 52 years to make the Exchange Club Fair a success. Thesetwo families have been part of the fair since its beginning in1952. Their children are “fair kids” who grew up helping out andhave come back over the years to lend a hand.

The Ratliffs were mainstays at the kiddie-car rides for yearsbefore moving to the bingo game. The Burnses have overseen themidway kitchen as well as a few of the games over the years.

Their’s has been a labor of love, a love of the community togive back and make it just a bit better for everyone else.

The money these fair families have raised for community projectsover all these years is surpassed by only the smiles of joy theyhave put on the faces of generations of youth.

The annual Exchange Club Fair is a Lincoln County tradition thatowes its success to the dedication and efforts of those familiessuch as the Ratliffs and Burnses as well as the many other fairfamilies who work each year.

Thanks, fair families. Thanks for the memories. Thanks for thehard work. Brookhaven and Lincoln County are a better place becauseof you.

Write to Bill Jacobs at P.O. Box 551, Brookhaven, Miss. 39602,or send e-mail to bjacobs@dailyleader.com.