July 23, 2014
Missouri State Fair Recipes
Fuel Summer Activities
Around Town
11
3
Camping and a Movie
Photo courtesy Missouri State Fair
Missouri State Fair to put the focus on kids
Business
By Shawn Clubb
STL Area Couples Help Seniors
The Missouri State Fair will once again focus on things that grow this year. The difference is that this year’s fair will focus on kids. The 112th Missouri State Fair will run Aug. 7-17 in Sedalia. The State Fair’s theme is Harvest the Fun. It will feature all of the competitions, exhibits and festival fun that families have come to expect. But beyond those time-held staples, the fair will put kids—and kids’ involvement in agriculture—in the spotlight. “We’re doing some specific things for kids this year,” Missouri State Fair Marketing Director Tammie Nichols said. The opening day ceremony will be in front of our family fun center, which is full of engagement activities for children. Before it starts, there will be a stage show by a group called Those Funny Little People. Opening day will also offer a treat for 130 youths from Boys and Girls Clubs in Kansas City and Sedalia. They will be at the opening day ceremony and then they will experience a fun day at the fair. Partners have come together to provide them with a meal, t-shirts and activities, Nichols said. Aug. 16 will be Celebrate Kids in Agriculture Day. According to State Fair organizers, the day will be coordinated by the Missouri State Fair and the Missouri
Department of Agriculture, and it will be sponsored by Missouri Department of Conservation. They said the day “will acknowledge youth currently involved in Missouri’s agriculture industry, and help raise awareness of and encourage an interest in agriculture among Missouri youth.” Celebrate Kids in Agriculture Day will include free gate admission for children ages 12 years of age and younger; free old-fashioned harvest games including gunny sack races, egg relay races and water relays; and the Largest Homegrown Tomato Contest and the Fun on the Farm Poster Contest. “Fostering youth development is the premise of our agriculture showcase,” Missouri State Fair Director Mark Wolfe said. “The new day, Celebrate Kids in Agriculture, will offer several unique experiences especially for youth and their families.” There will be plenty for kids to do at the fair on every day, Nichols said. “We are definitely family-friendly,” she said. “We have tons of professional entertainment that kids are going to really enjoy.” There will even be a comedy pirate show in the Kids Zone. Nichols said the show is “entertaining for anybody, any age.” There are many other ways that the
State Fair will be appealing to everyone, she said. There will be many free demonstrations and concerts. However, tickets must be purchased for the headlining acts that will take to the Pepsi Grandstand. Among those are Scotty McCreery and Kelsey K on Aug. 7, Joan Jett and the Blackhearts and Black Stone Cherry on Aug. 8, Sara Evans and Joe Nichols on Aug. 9, Beatlemania Live on Aug. 12, Florida Georgia See MISSOURI STATE FAIR page 2
School
6
7
Engineers Can Be Creative
Dawn of the Planet of the Apes photos courtesy of 20th Century Fox
Movie FREE Online Subscription at mycnews.com
9