MY Missouri State Fair 2013

Back in August, the Missouri State Fair made national news — for probably the first time in a long time — when Tuffy the rodeo clown put on a mask of the President during his entertainment. As folk who have gone to rodeos know, the clowns are there to entertain. And, more importantly, they are on-dirt guards for the safety of the riders of bulls, horses, etc. And from what I know of them, they’d even help you find the keys you lost in the field/parking lot afterwards if they were lucky enough not to have been carted off in an ambulance that night. Well, in poor Tuffy’s case, somebody put his performance on You Tube and it got blown way out of proportion. Go figure. I’m pro-Tuffy. Dick Dorkey of Florissant is not. He wrote the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, after not being at the rodeo, and after not being at the state fair at all, with these words of wisdom: “The rodeo clown incident simply points out that the time for having a state fair has come to an end. “Annually, the state of Missouri spends millions producing this event, that while pleasant, is an anachronism whose time has come and gone. The state also spends millions in upkeep for a fairgrounds used for a few weeks in the summer.” Wrong, Dorkey. The State of Missouri officially paid $400,000 to support the 2013 state fair. That’s about one dollar for everybody who attended, and that’s less than HALF of ONE million. As far as the “millions” for upkeep, you’ll have to prove it. And the fairgrounds is used year round; I know, because I’ve been there. Dorkey also stated: “Historically, the state fair was a place where farmers could enter their crops and livestock in a competition and be entertained with carnival acts, races and musical performers that they otherwise wouldn’t be able to see. “These days, no farm family is more than a couple of hours away from the entertainment in St. Louis, Kansas City or Branson.” Well, that’s just big-city bias, Mr. Florissant. This state is built on agriculture. And the farmers, young and old, who enter their crops and livestock in competition, are not going to find such opportunities in Mr. Dorkey’s entertainment capitals. The state fair gives some of these folk a chance to show off what they’ve dedicated their lives to, to learn how others do it, to maybe learn some tips and make some business contacts. And even us city folk can learn while being entertained. Unlike Dorkey, I go to the rodeo every year. I’ve even volunteered there. I enjoy the fact that Missourians from across the state can come to Sedalia, see a free show or a paid concert, enjoy carnival food, maybe shake hands with a politician or a fair queen, learn how a pig becomes bacon or where ice cream comes from … and if they are offended by a rodeo clown in a mask, they do what regular folk do: don’t clap, maybe boo, and maybe Pop will yell something while Mama covers Junior’s ears. They don’t You Tube it, and they for sure don’t claim to know all about it when they’ve never even been. I read “Tuffy” was “banned for life” from the Missouri State Fair. That sounds like a Dorkey-like decision. Good, honest fair folk know better. He’ll be back, maybe as “Scruffy” the clown, or he might be the barker for the pig races, or he might be helping to show off the outstanding Charolais his kids raised. That’s the way we do things in Missouri, Dorkey.