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  Fair ride breaks, drama in foothills

  http://marvelousmissmoxie.blogspot.com/2008/05/calaveras-cou...
  199 days ago in Marvelous Musings of Miss Moxie · Authority: 3

  The Calaveras County Fair was a pre-summer event from my childhood that I looked forward to every year since I was 6 or 7 years old. Known as the Jumping Frog Jubilee, it's a tradition for many families in the Gold Rush communities that pepper Highway 49 in California's Sierra Nevada's. As a 4-H family, raising animals and preparing them for the county fair was a yearly activity. It's historical importance gave it a special place in the hearts of local businesses and the Calaveras County School District even gave days off to those kids showing animals at the fair. I was always part of the younger batch of kids - those too young for animals and 4-H, yet too old to stay at home with a sitter for the week. So, my early years were spent entering cooking and craft competitions until I was old enough to raise animals of my own. The one year I raised and sold a pig at auction I cried, so it was rabbit shows for me after that. My family would stay with a large group of other 4-H families and camp for the week so the kids could tend to their animals - cleaning stalls and grooming them for show. We made a small village from our campers, where there was always music, food or some type of laughter. I was always envious at the older kids - being able to roam the fairgrounds during the day, explore the midway and watch the evening concerts and demolition derbies at night. I was a social butterfly even at an eraly age, and loved to wander around the fairgrounds to catch up with my friends from other schools, eat corn dogs until I was sick, and buy as many cheap carnival items as possible. I experienced my first big kid ride at the county fair - the Zipper. I ate way too much sugar. Painted on obscene make up for the summer heat. Wore ridiculous satin shorts and half tops (it was the 80s afterall). Bought too much crap. Met friends running through the pig barns. Rolled down grassy hills. Stayed dirty for way too long. It was harmless fun and while we were glad for it to be over by week's end, we looked forward to the next fair every year. Sadly, we all grew up and away from it all. I visited the fair once a few years ago. While the magic was gone, the carelessness of my childhood whispered in the air. We never got hurt. We were kids. We played, while the adults partied. And, ahem, they partied, let me tell you. But it was safe. It was fun. It was a time of another era. So...the news to come out of Calaveras County yesterday was a total shock! Apparently at this week's fair, a popular ride (the Yo Yo) which whisks riders around in circles on swings, collapsed mid-ride, resulting in many riders being flung, some dragged. No one was seriously injured according to latest reports, but 2 remaining children ages 12 and 14 remain hospitalized with injuries. The news reminded me of all the times I stared at the lock for the cage of my favorite ride, The Zipper, thinking it couldn't possible open as I rolled in somersaults high up in the air. Thank God no one was hurt. But, I'm sad that something like this had to happen to put litigous strain on an event that has been bringing joy to families for generations. I hope it's not the last bit of magic left....I'd like to bring my kids sometime and show them where their mom was a kid before them.

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