By the time you read this, the tears, the sad ones and the happy ones alike, will have likely all subsided.
The dresses have been packed away in closets and the inevitble blisters are beginning to heal. Last Saturday night, at the Bradenton Municipal Audit- orium, we crowned Jenna Eckerson as our new Miss Manatee County Fair and, like the girls who came before her, she accepted her new office gracefully and with pride. For those of you who have never attended the fair pageant, I will tell you that it is a wonderful, entertaining and well-organized event, and I encourage you to attend next year. It is, however, about three hours long, which provides photographers like me (the ones with short attention spans) an opportunity to ponder certain questions like: Why not have a Mr. Manatee County Fair? Are the young men of Manatee County not worthy of a sash, some flowers and a title? Does possession of a Y chromosome somehow preclude us from being faithful ambassadors of our annual fair? How would I look in a crown?
While listening to the remainder of the program, the answer to the question of why was eventually — and definitively — answered for me. Apparently the winners of the fair pageant are afforded the opportunity to enjoy unlimited carnival rides and fair food during their reign. Can you even begin to imagine what would happen if we gave a young man two weeks of free fair food and midway rides? We’d have to make certain that we also provided our new Mr. Manatee County Fair with a backpack full of Dramamine, some stretchy pants and a DVD of Richard Simmons’ “Sweatin’ to the Oldies.” The answer is that we (men) likely wouldn’t be able to handle the power or the responsibility and so, maybe it is best if we just leave it to a pro, so good luck Jenna, congratulations, and we’ll see you at the fair.
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