SEMO DISTRICT FAIR STARTS TODAY

Seven-year-old Cody Schremp drilled a few holes Saturday to secure a wooden counter for the American Legion Post 63 as he and his grandfather prepared the stand for today's opening of the SEMO District Fair.

But he'd rather look at tractors.

"I don't see any tractors or combines out here, Paw paw," Cody said to Floyd Smith, who had promised to show him farm equipment.

"After we're finished, we'll take a look around," Smith said.

Few people in Arena Park had time to look around Saturday, as most were busy setting up some of the few hundred stands and exhibits that will be part of the fair.

Chris, who only uses his first name, travels from one fair to another across the Midwest, was folding T-shirts that he doesn't expect to keep too long.

"Last year all we had were wrestling shirts, with Austin and people like that," he said. "They did pretty good, but this year we've got the Doors, Jim Morrison, Billy Ray Cyrus and other concert T-shirts."

It was a fluke that he ended up with T-shirts featuring Cyrus, who will perform at the fair on Friday.

The clothing wholesalers he deals with don't allow much room for choice, Chris said.

The best-selling fair merchandise would be laser pens, if it were legal to sell them, he said. The pens emit a narrowly focused red light, which is reminiscent of targeting features on some guns, Chris said.

"We can't sell those in 90 percent of the places we go," he said.

But Don Huey can sell plenty of breakfasts, whether the fair has started or not. His Trinity Lutheran Church men's club went through about 30 pounds of sausage Saturday morning, he said.

"We had a real good breakfast this morning, lots of people," Huey said.

The Lutheran men's club has always been among the first to turn on its grills, ever since it had its first food stand at the fair in 1941, Huey said.

"All these carnival people need a place to eat, and we give them that," he said.

Many others will stop by early for breakfasts on their way to work.

"That way, it doesn't cost them anything to get into the fair," Huey said.

As Capt. Charles Brawley of the Cape Girardeau Fire Department makes safety checks at the stands, he spends a little extra time at Trinity Lutheran's.

"They've got one of the best places to eat," he said

As tents pop up and trailers roll in, Brawley examines them to make sure electrical systems and fire extinguishers meet standards.

This is much simpler than most fire safety inspections, Brawley said.

"In buildings I have to look at exit lights, emergency lights, exit doors," he said. "With these booths, they know how to find a way out if there's a problem."