BY K. MCSTAY

HERALD DEMOCRAT

Cars rolled through the gravel and through the grass, lining up to gain entrance to the Grayson County Fair. Families wandered through lines of vender and game booths, and music drifted through the crowd. The stereotypical smell of fair food and dust mingled in the air, and entertainment ranged from trained monkeys to helicopter rides.

Saturday was non-profit day for the fair, and the Mayor Arena filled with booths representing Grayson County's non-profit organization. Martha's Messengers, a relay for life team raising money to raise cancer awareness, sat in a booth with a toilet painted purple. The commode, volunteer Tamara Flores explained, can be placed in a friend's front yard for a donation. "We've had quite a few people stop by," she said, possibly because of the purple toilet. "We focus on ovarian cancer, but will speak to anyone," she said. The organization honors Martha Sutherland, a local woman diagnosed with inoperable ovarian cancer.

"So far, it's been good," said Pat Ridenour, a representative of TAPS. Ridenour said that several people came by and took information about the bus service. "They ask questions," she said. "It's been great for all the non-profits."

Katie Fairchild of the 4-H Saddlebound Club organized the pony-riding booth. "We do this event every year," she said. The club, as well as the 4-H in general, does community service projects that the money gathered from the fundraiser helps with. "It gives us exposure," she said, and lets the community see the hard work that the Saddlebound kids do.

"We help the community, and this gives us a way to do that," volunteer Stolle Voigt, 12, said.

In addition to the pony rides, the vet science arm of the Grayson County 4-H held a barn-yard petting zoo. Animals from pigs to macaws lined up for children to pet and look at, and several wire cages for rabbits lined a smaller tank. "I just call all my friends and tell them to bring their animals," Project Manager Nancy Coffman said. "I think a lot of children don't get the interactions with the farm animals and exotics, especially the exotics."

A crowd favorite was Dozer, the African Spur-Thigh Tortoise. "We had people coming up on Thursday afternoon asking where he was," Coffman said.

In an adjacent building, children and teen paraded around steer in the fair's steer show. "They look for body shape and muscle, how they walk," Dave Thornhill said. Eventually, the cattle and their owners will travel to other venues, including Forth Worth and Austin, to show their animals. "This is for exposure," Thornhill said. "This is where they get ready."

Dillon Harwood, owner of a Maine Anjou steer, said that he feeds, washes, exercises and works with the coat of his animal daily. "You get 'em used to people," he said. The event, he said, "shows the agriculture side of the community," and gives people an appreciation of the hard work that goes into it.

Helicopter rides were given at the event as well. 'It was awesome," Jessie Brown, 12, said. "I got to go around the whole park." Logan Anderson, 11, vetoed the helicopter ride in favor of something more ground based: he and mom Sandra Beard planned on visiting the barnyard zoo. "There's just more to do," Beard said. "It gives families a chance to get out and do something together."