July 4, 2020
Butler County Fair continues with parade, pageant
The Butler County Fair’s festivities continued Saturday as hundreds of area residents lined the streets of downtown Poplar Bluff to celebrate freedom with a July 4th parade. Children, and some adults alike, scampered for candy as floats, antique vehicles, emergency responders and others passed by along the parade route...
The Butler County Fair’s festivities continued Saturday as hundreds of area residents lined the streets of downtown Poplar Bluff to celebrate freedom with a July 4th parade.
Children, and some adults alike, scampered for candy as floats, antique vehicles, emergency responders and others passed by along the parade route.
“I think it is awesome on the Fourth of July; I love seeing the patriotism,” said Vernon Bishop of Poplar Bluff.
Linda Nelson of Poplar Bluff agreed.
“I love seeing the flags,” she said.
Nelson was accompanied by her daughter, Robin Davis, both of whom were there to watch Davis’ son, a member of the Poplar Bluff High School SHO-ME Band.
“The time we are living in right now, seeing everybody come together and being unified is great,” Davis said.
Like many of those in attendance, Nora Davis of Poplar Bluff and her family come to the parade each year.
Nora Davis described the parade as “great, and the weather’s been wonderful. … The parade has been very nice.
“The kids want to be in the parade next year, they’ve enjoyed it that much.”
Attending the parade for the first time was Karen Young of Corning, Arkansas.
Young said she decided to attend because Corning’s parade was cancelled and her nieces wanted to come, and “I’m a good aunt.”
Having taught at Neelyville for a number of years, Young said, she knew “a lot of these kids” who were in the parade.
Saturday’s activities also included the Miss and Mister Little Firecracker pageant at the Black River Coliseum, a power wheel derby and demolition derby at Ray Clinton Park followed by fireworks.
A large crowd also turned out Friday night for the tractor and lawn mower pulls and rodeo at Ray Clinton Park.
Jim Aylor of Cape Girardeau and his Farmall tractor pulled the weighted sled 301 feet in the first run of the evening.
“For the conditions, I thought it was a pretty good” run, said Aylor, who is part of the Bootheel Tractor Pullers Association. “I had the option to go back and do it again, but I’m going to bank on it.”
Trevor Turner, 11, of Neelyville and his Ford Powermaster tractor pulled the sled more then 231 feet.
A third-generation tractor puller, Trevor is in his second season of competition and he does it because “it’s fun.”
“My dad is Tom Turner; he started doing it in the ‘70s,” said Trevor’s father, Ryan Turner. “We can’t help” but be involved in tractor pulls.
The lawn mower pull also was a family affair for Farrell Wasson of Scott City and his 5-year-old daughter, Hannah Wasson.
“She pulled last year a little bit; she’s pulling this year,” Farrell said. “This is our third pull of the year. We like to do it. Her older brother does it too.”
As the tractors and lawn mowers competed on the truck pull along Black River, in the nearby arena, cowboys and cowgirls competed in events, such as calf riding, team roping and barrel racing, put on by the Chalk Bluff Rodeo Company.
Competing in Poplar Bluff for the first time was Logan Jones of Murray, Kentucky.
“I jut heard about (the rodeo) and knew a couple of guys who would be here to turn a steer for me, so I decided to come,” Jones said. “So far, I like it a lot. It’s a good local rodeo. I’m having a good time.”
Jones said he didn’t get a time as “my header missed on my first run. My second run will be after the performance in the slack.”
As her father-in-law and husband competed in the tractor pull, Jessie Aylor was there to barrel race.
“We barrel race at several of Todd’s (Wood) events,” Jessie Aylor said. “I’ve been here a couple of times at different events.”
As she waited her turn, Jessie Aylor said, she expected the competition to be good as she knew “several of the girls who compete every weekend.”
Reigh Freeman of Doniphan and 3-year-old daughter, Rossi, also were there to run the barrels.
“I love it,” Freeman said. “We always rodeo; that’s what we do.
“We team rope and barrel race with her.”
Rossi said she likes riding Carlos best.
“She does the exhibition run; she’s too young. I won’t let her out there by herself,” Freeman said.
Visiting from Ohio, Cortney Welander came out with her children and mother, who lives in the area, to watch the tractor pull, but “we’re watching the rodeo.”
The fair, Welander said, is better than she expected because “I thought I was coming to see that (the tractor pull). … They’re not doing stuff like this up there yet.”
As Alicia Chestnut watched her 5-year-old daughter, Sarah Chestnut, compete in the calf scramble, she said, she thinks fair organizers should separate the tractor pull and rodeo and not hold them simultaneously.
Chestnut said she had another child who was at the tractor pull, while Sarah and her friend, Alexandria Lawrence, “are into the horses and rodeo part of it. … We’ve been back and forth.”
John Zahner of Poplar Bluff said he would have preferred to have been at the tractor pull, but he had a daughter and two others competing in the barrel racing and a bulldogger.
Zahner said that is the way is always is, but “anything is better than being cooped up at home.”
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