Louisiana State Fair opens Thursday
 

The Louisiana State Fair opens Thursday at the state fair grounds in Shreveport

There is still a large crowd that go the fair. My family has not gone for years for many reasons. Safety is a large factor and after a a few days it is so nasty. The part of town is the main factor. I enjoy the livestock but it is not worth it just to see that.

Excuses, excuses. Admit it. You are a boar, I mean bore.:laugh::laugh::laugh:

I can see you like the fair Tbelle:rolleyes: To each their own. What is your favorite thing at the fair ???

I have no favorite at the fair. I like to see the animals. Other than that it's just for the kids. Or to see how many rides Mini me Belle can ride before she starts feeling like she is going to throw up!!!:laugh:

I'm kind of pissed at the fair, I called to make sure they had a giraffe at the zoo and they assured me they did. They didn't. My daughter loves giraffes. She almost got snatched by an elephant, too.

I haven't been in years. I used to like the chain saw exhibits.. :D

I do miss the corn dogs and pulled taffy though. I can still taste it in my mind even if I haven't had any in 15+ years.

I used to go every year for the exhibits; new cars, tractors, four wheelers, ya know. But in the last couple of years, I've notice fewer things?? I guess I'll try it again this year- Last year they had "old school" tractor pulls with OLD tractors....kinda neat to see those old machines and how strong they were.

When I was little, they hosted an antique car exhibit. A friend of mine had a father who owned a model T and a Torpedo often on display. But the antique vehicle I remember the most of Pedro's Pie Wagon owned my Mr Pedro. Mr Pedro had a wife as I recall who was the cook at South Highlands (Mrs Pedro) Maybe joepole or j.nc might remember her.

I was in 4H as a kid, I grew up in the country, but some of my friends Showed cows and sheep at the fair. We would bring sleeping bags and would all sleep with the animals. There wasn't much sleep though, we played alot of pranks:laugh:the carnies would crank up the music and ride each others rides all night- I remember alot of beer drinking! :peace:

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KTAL -- Oct 25 2007 11:09 AM
Australian Outback Experience

What were your favorite rides at the Fair?
 

I liked the Rotor the best. Something about defying gravity was cool back in the 60's during the space programs. I also like the Bobsled ride and the Scrambler. Bumper cars were good too.

I hated the Zipper. The Roller coaster was lame too. What was it called? The mouse something or another.

I think Mrs. Isaac will remember the Bobsled ride and the refried beans and onions :D

My least favorite ride is the octopus! This was the last time I went to the fair.
I was with one of my girlfriends, we were fresh out of college. My brother went along with us but decided not to ride this one (wise choice). This is that ride that goes up and down with extended arms and the seats that you can make spin too.
Well we were going to town with making ours spin and when the ride came to a stop our seat continued to spin and pick up momentum. Our necks felt like they were breaking and there was no headrest. We could blurrily see my brother down below just trying to figure out what the heck was going on. I don't believe I've ever used such foul language in my life trying to get that carney guy to get us off. We finally did and vowed to never ride that again and I've never returned either.
Oh and that double ferris wheel scared me to death because you went so darn high!:eek:

Wow, what a story Pokey. I remember the octopus but I can't imagine what went wrong. The octopus was an OK ride and I recall that Six Flag over Texas even had the octopus ride in the mid 70's... As for the Ferris well, I kinda liked it. But I'm busting my brain trying to remember the "double" ferris well. I remember the name, but what was "double" about it? two seats per "node". If so, I remember a "triple" ferris well where three people sat side by side.

Oh no it's not about the seats there were actually 2 ferris wheels connected! So when they rotated upwards one sat on top of the other and your head was in the stars! It was creepy when they were unloading and you were stopped way up at the peak! It was okay though if you were with a hot date!:D
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KSLA -- Oct 26 2007 10:29 AM
Officials Begin Using Metal Detectors To Keep People Safe At State Fair

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Shreveport Times -- Nov 7 2007 1:24 PM
Weather, crime cooperate with state fair

I tell my kids about this one and for a moment they look at me like PETA is about to burst through the door - but they love the concept: remember the ducking slide?

The year we moved here from up North my Dad took off from work to check the fair on his way home. He didn't realize the fair was segregated and had picked the one day to go when he was the only white person in the crowd it seemed. I read that it was called "colored day" and was on the first day of the fair - Monday.

rhertz: Mrs Pedro - that sounds real familiar. What did the Pie Wagon look like? [Edit: My brother said she later went to Byrd]

Duck slide from another fair:

Something like this...

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Mrs Pedro was the head of the cafeteria at South Highlands, and Mr Pedro did something food related too I think. But he always had his antique cars on display at the State Fair. Another antique collector was Malcom "Bud" Dutton who had a Model T and a Torpedo at the Fair. I also remember seeing a Model A and a Duesenberg. Old cars were a big deal back in the exhibit building.

What were some of y'alls favorite rip off games at the fair? This one takes me WAY back, but I remember it like yesterday! Never could get the big teddy bear!:(

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I enjoyed the ducks when I was really small. But I "won" a few teddy bears at the squirt gun booth where you make the balloon pop by hitting the clown in the mouth with the water gun. But I had to trade up to get a nice sized bear. Cost about $10-15 per bear so I'm sure that even "winners" are loosers in the big scheme of things. (probably cost a dollar in china) But hey, I won those bears and that is what counted in my mind..

I remember the ring toss over the coke bottles game. You'd be all fired up thinking you'd won then the carney would remove the ring and say you'd lost because the ring wasn't all the way in position. Then there were the milk bottles made of lead or some heavy substance that couldn't be completely knocked over. I wonder if they've changed at all?

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Shreveport Times -- Nov 11 2007 8:38 PM
State Fair winds down today