MARK MY WORD: COTTON CANDY, FUNNEL CAKE AND KIDS AT THE FAIR

Cotton candy.

It's what our younger daughter, Bailey, loves best about the SEMO District Fair.

She's still munching on that sugary stuff. Our 3-year-old can make a bag of cotton candy last days.

Ask her what else she likes. "Dragon roller coaster," she screams with delight.

She likes being a cow girl, too, riding those pony rides.

Becca still rides the Dragon and some of the other kiddie rides. But at age 7, she's growing up.

That means she's tall enough to ride the bigger rides like the Tilt-A-Whirl and the Himalaya.

She loves the Himalaya ride which races passengers around a banked track to the accompaniment of loud music.

Like many kids, Becca could spend a lifetime on the Midway. The neon-lit rides are a thrill.

Becca also can't pass up the funnel cakes. One of the world's pickiest eaters, Becca loves those sugar-topped funnel cakes.

For parents, the annual fair is full of standing in line. You stand in line at the ticket booth and pay out good money so your children can get their hands stamped.

You stand in line with your children as they wait to board a ride. Once the ride begins, you stand around and watch your children as they zip by.

They have an audience and they know it.

There's nothing like the fair. Where else can you see a 100-pound rat, a teeny tiny woman, a giant tortoise and tons of people climbing fake rocks?

Plus, this year's fair featured a beer school, courtesy of those friendly folks at Anheuser-Busch.

The mobile beer school teaches people what goes on inside those brew kettles.

It's too bad they don't have a cotton candy school. Bailey would jump at a chance to go to that school.

Becca might like a funnel cake school, although her real interest is in eating them, not making them.

Besides, there's little time for schooling when those rides beckon you.

The fair also is a chance for guys to cook food at a church stand.

Guys who never cook a meal readily volunteer to work in the kitchen at the church fair stand.

OK, maybe they can't make change or take food orders, but they can cook a burger or fry fish.

They even can garnish a dish with a few pickles and slices of onion.

I know about all this stuff because I'm one of those guys who likes to get greasy in the fair-stand kitchen.

There's nothing like filling a dozen fish-basket orders. It's a feeling of accomplishment that you just don't get from popping a frozen pizza in the oven.

If it weren't for the fair, some guys would never acquire any cooking skills.

Joni doesn't trust me to boil water, much less cook a meal. But at the fair stand, it's a different story.

There, you don't have to boil water. As long as you have hot oil, you can cook anything.

Of course, nothing can be cooked without proper preparation. That means you have to wear a chef's apron.

It's impossible to cook anything at our church fair stand without the proper attire. You also need lots of helping hands.

But you can't spend all your time in the kitchen. After all, the carnival still calls for your kids.

And when it's over, you bag the cotton candy and the memories of another fair week.

~Mark Bliss is a staff writer for the Southeast Missourian.