By Shannon McFarlin News Director
Paris, Tenn.–The 2019 Henry County Fair will have plenty of activities–but it just won’t have a carnival this year–and that is frustrating for Fair Association members.
Leon Rogers has been a fixture at the fair for many years and told WENK/WTPR fair officials searched “high and low” but could not find a suitable carnival company for this year’s fair. The fair will be held from August 3-10.
“I hate it. I hate it for the kids,” Rogers said, “but we’re going to work as hard as we can to have a great a fair as we can even without a carnival.”
In recent years, fewer and fewer carnival companies still come to county fairs, with the high cost of insurance and liability concerns. Rogers said, “We’re not the only county that won’t be having a carnival this year.”
The Myers International Midways company that had their carnivals at the local fair for years has closed. Rogers said, “Ms. Myers, who originally had the company, retired and her granddaughter was going to take over but she didn’t and they closed their doors.”
And that, he said, “put a real monkey wrench in the situation for us.”
The company that the fair hired last year did not make many people happy, he said. “We had a lot of complaints about them.”
Since then, Rogers said, he has called “probably every fair company that still does business in Tennessee and Kentucky and even farther than that and couldn’t get anyone for this year.”
However, the Henry Co. Fair already has a carnival company booked for 2020. “We’ve got a good one coming then, but they weren’t available for us this year,” he said. “So, we’ll be back in the saddle with a carnival then.”
Meanwhile, the Henry County Fair books will be available Monday with a listing of all the activities set for the fair and the list is long.
Deneicia Gregson, who has been involved with the fair in various capacities over the years, said the activities will include the demolition derby, tractor pull, cash giveaways, youth talent show, beauty pageants, a Cruise-In, dance with live music by the Ray Lewis Band, cornhole tournament, contests, kiddie activities, as well as all the livestock shows and other events that everyone expects at the fair each year.
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