Before Novemberfest, Hillsborough County Fair

There will be no shortage of sideshows and funnel cakes this year for greater Brandon area residents, as if there ever was.

A new fair is set to launch this fall in eastern Hillsborough County, thanks to the March 22 groundbreaking on the northeast corner of State Road 60 and Sydney Washer Road in Dover, just east of Valrico.

The Greater Hillsborough County Fair Association, 14 years after its formation and 17 months after signing a lease with the county for its permanent home, is set to stage a fair from the end of October through the first weekend in November.

Over the years the fair has been staged at the Florida State Fairgrounds, Raymond James Stadium and the Winthrop development off Bloomingdale Avenue in Riverview.

The first fair in its new permanent home will feature a complete midway and a lineup of carnival rides, variety of entertainment and a livestock competition, including dairy, swine, poultry, rabbits and sheep. Horse shows also are likely, said fair chairman George Parker, "and eventually we'll have beef animals as well, as we make room and grow."

Fair officials say the county fair is needed because the Florida State Fair and the Florida Strawberry Festival, which this month drew more than a half-million attendees, have become so big that there is not enough room to showcase the efforts of everyone who wants to participate.

The Florida Strawberry Festival Queen Pageant, for example, is open only to Plant City residents, unlike the county fair's Harvest Queen Pageant, which is open to contestants countywide. Candice Haytread, a junior at Sickles High School in northwest Hillsborough County, was crowned the winner at this year's county fair.

"Our competitions will be open to everyone in the county," said Betty Jo Tompkins, president of the Greater Hillsborough County Fair Association.

Moreover, Tompkins added, the competitions have become so popular at the existing fairs that many would-be participants, including many youngsters just starting out, are turned away.

"Demand is so great amongst the young people for the swine show at the Florida Strawberry Festival that they have to have a drawing to see who will compete," Tompkins said. "So we're offering another opportunity for participants."

The county fair, held last year at the Pole Barn at Winthrop, drew 50 competitors in the swine competition alone, Tompkins said.

Tompkins noted also that county fair officials want to reach out in a grand way to the Mexican population, "the farm workers who are so critical to the agricultural success of this community and this county."

"We're going to have entertainment and things they like and want to do and we hope they will come out and participate," she said. "Anybody can bring ideas to us and if they're willing to help us execute those ideas we would be willing to do almost anything that would enhance the community aspect of the county fair."

The county fair will follow, by seven and eight months, respectively, the Florida Strawberry Festival in Plant City and the state fair at the Florida State Fairgrounds in Tampa.

Still, a back-to-back carnival lineup will not be avoided.

The county fair's closing in November will mark the opening of Novemberfest at Nativity Catholic Church and school in Brandon, which also features a complete midway and lineup of entertainment, games, rides and exhibition booths.

Novemberfest typically draws more than 100,000 attendees. This year, it will be celebrating its 38th year at 705 E. Brandon Blvd., less than five miles west of the Hillsborough County fair site.

"We're not in competition with Novemberfest," Tompkins said, noting the county fair's emphasis on blending suburban, urban and rural interests. "We're really not, because our focus is going to be a little different than theirs. We're going to be focusing on competitions and exhibits to help give youngsters a learning experience for keeping better record books, selecting quality animals and becoming better showmen."

More than 150 people showed up for the March 22 groundbreaking, including the eight people chosen to ceremoniously move dirt with gold-plated shovels.

Wearing white construction hats for the job were five representatives from the Greater Hillsborough County Fair Association: Haytread, Tompkins, general manager Tom Umiker, chairman George Park and board members Roy Davis and Myke Morris. Board member and former Hillsborough County School Superintendent Earl Lennard, a lifelong Riverview resident long active at state fairs and in the agricultural community, presided over the ceremony.

Recognizing the collaboration it took to get the land secured, the remaining members of the groundbreaking crew were Jim Norman, chairman of the Hillsborough County Board of County Commissioners; Mark Thornton, director of the Hillsborough County Parks, Recreation and Conservation Department; and Billie Smith, honorary mayor of Brandon.

In October 2005, county commissioners agreed to lease to the nonprofit county fair association up to 60 acres at the Sydney site for a nominal sum. Also with the lease came $500,000 from Hillsborough's share of phosphate severance tax revenue, which is collected from phosphate mining companies for land reclamation.

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