By Ruth Ann Ruiz
The Post Newspaper Features Editor
Wednesday was family night at the Galveston County Fair and Rodeo (GCFR), and there were plenty of children taking in all the fun they could possibly absorb.
Brooke Espitia of Santa Fe was out to see the sights and had her face painted as a unicorn princess. She enjoyed watching the goats and geese as they raced along in one of the shows designed for children.
Grayson Patterson watched intently as a member of the Marine Corps League affixed a Marine Corps emblem to his shirt. Other young men and women were educated by Marine Corps League members about the significance of the eagle, globe, and anchor emblem.
Just hanging out being a little cowboy or little cowgirl was another pastime that brought smiles to the faces of the numerous children who had come out with their parents and grandparents purely to enjoy a county fair and maybe stay past their bedtimes to catch the youth rodeo held in the arena.
In the background, while human attendees took in the delights of the fair could be heard the mooing of the steers and the bleating of the goats as these animals waited for their final owners to be determined at the auction. Country music was playing through many different sound systems, and cotton candy was readily available as a sweet treat.
Santa Fe High School students Franklin, Carson, Rylan, and Jack spent three months building a hay trailer that won Grand Champion in the AGI Mechanics category. Their work sold at auction to Mathew Doyle for $13,000.
The fair, which began in 1938 and was held at Runge Park in Arcadia, Texas, according to the GCFR website, outgrew its fairgrounds and settled into Jack Brooks Park in Hitchcock in 1984. There the tradition lives on.
Each year, children are the primary focus of all that takes place at the GCFR. Some children spend months caring for their animals, creating art, or building agricultural equipment to enter competitions at the GCFR and other some children just come out for fun.
Humidity was high on Wednesday, but it didn’t seem to matter that visitors to the fair were perspiring. The youngsters looked to be having a good time.
