Lately I see ads for the Neshoba County Fair. My first memory of that fair was in when I was no more than 5. My family was there. And Dad and I rode the Ferris Wheel. I must assume that at this time Mom was pregnant with my sister, Mary… because otherwise, she’d have gone on the ride also. Mom enjoyed stuff like that.
This time it was just Dad and me. But it turned out not to be all fun and games… much to Mom’s dismay.
Something ‘mechanical’ happened to the wheel. It ground to a stop! Dad and I were no more than one chair ‘below’ being right at the top when it stopped! Over the side, I could see something smoking below… and several men throwing dirt on it! As young as I was, I still KNEW that this was NOT a good thing!
Mom was on the ground, screaming and crying. Mom’s first child, Emma, had died at birth. Now her second was trapped at the top of a smoking ferris wheel! The fact that Dad kept his cool was very comforting.
Yes, I survived this, my first trip to the Neshoba County Fair. The motor fire was extinguished, and the gears disengaged to the wheel, and it was slowly turned by hand by several workers so that all of us could be safely rescued from the crippled contraption.
And such was my first experience at the fair… and on a ferris wheel!
The picture above is only an illustration of this story! Mom didn’t bring her ever-present camera that night, otherwise I’d have an actual pic of this event!
Pen In Hand 