2012 NC State Fair

Gail & Grant Simons have been operating their Root Beer Truck & Stall for 50 plus years, 26 years in the same location at the NC State Fair.  "We don't know what's going to happen to the stall once we can't do this anymore... It's really a 24/7 kind of job.  We have loyal customers that keep coming back (and) a big part of doing this is talking to old friends that we've made."  The root beer float that I had was fabulous and at only $3.00 a bargain at the fair.  ©2012 Simon Griffiths Photography

The blacksmith shop at the fair always draws a crowd.  These guys obviously enjoy the age old tradition of hitting steel with a hammer.

"Are you the media?...I'm not supposed to talk to the media."  Officer Woodruff had been working all night guarding the entrance to the Jim Graham Building.  I had just come through the doors from teh other way as a side door had been open and unguarded.  Woodruff has been working the fair for 15 years and was glad for the biscuit that someone had brought him.

Eva Hord has been working the stand that offers square ice cream in a double cone "since before my grandson was born...and he's 31 now."  The actual stand which fits into a duffle bag has seen operation since the fair started back up after World War II.  "I know I shouldn't be sitting...but I need to when I can."

Marc Dobson..."The original One Man Band" plays fairs and events all up and down the east coast.  A shoe-in for America's Got Talent, Marc went through 19 iterations of his drum kit before arriving with this one.  Weighing 30 pounds, Dobson puts his entire body into his performance with guitar, drums, harmonica, and singing so his sets don't last more than a few songs.  Interjecting humor into his act... a common refrain: "Why are you leaving? I didn't leave when you showed up!!"    I took enough pictures for him to guilt me into sending him some by his giving me a DVD of his performances.  Expecting perhaps a little less, they were actually very well done despite the various settings and found myself really enjoying his music of standards.  His best line though was on his DVD commentary.  "When adults see me, they wonder how I do that?...When kids see me, they wonder how they can do that!"  Great lesson for adults.