At times Juliana & I actually have to leave the Pavilion to go up to will call, or to the State Fair media office, or sometimes we simply take a break and stroll around the fairgrounds. On one of our ventures out in to the fairgrounds, we noticed a random fairgoer walking around with a GO TEXAN shopping bag, and then we noticed the bags were popping up everywhere! We decided it would be fun to take pictures of all the people and places we spotted the GO TEXAN shopping bags and share them with you! We even took a picture of Big Tex holding a GO TEXAN shopping bag, but it mysteriously disappeared. Maybe it's with missing the quilt unveiling photos...

Elsie the Beauty Queen

Did you know that Borden's Elsie the Cow has veterinarians in place to regulate her nutritional requirements on a weekly basis? That her trailer is thermostat controlled and designed solely with her comfort in mind? She is groomed every day which includes a bath and her hooves and horns being polished? Until Steve Bradley with Borden told me all of the above, I sure didn't! Elsie's better taken care of then I am & she's probably better taken care of then you! We love Elsie & are very honored to have her and her son Beauregard part of the Food and Fiber Pavilion.

Fairgoer Caught Using Recycling Bins!

I saw a the cutest t-shirt on a little girl that said "Please Recycle My Brother" but I didn't have a camera with me at the time to take her picture. However, it did make me think about how this is the first time we've had recycling bins in the Food and Fiber Pavilion & how it's working out really well!

The City of Dallas is going to give us a report on how much recycling we did for the duration of the fair & I'm curious to see how we measure...

GO TEXAN Wins!

In case you didn't know, there was a football game yesterday on the fairgrounds. There was a loud buzz of people cheering GO Texas, but what were hearing was GO TEXAN! And guess what- GO TEXAN won! I think the score was GO TEXAN 45, OU zero, but my math could be a bit off. Anyhow, the darling UT fans pictured above were tired from a long day of cheering, but made a point of stopping by "their favorite pavilion" before heading back to Austin.

Something for Everyone

One of the great things about the Food and Fiber Pavilion is the sheer variety of performances and demonstrations on the events stage.

Yesterday the Hill College Choir and Jazz Band performed in the Pavilion. It was their thirty-fourth time to perform here & it was quite the production. Two buses full of college students arrive two hours before their show time to tune their instruments, practice their harmonies and make sure everything is just right. They take the performance very seriously and usually draw a pretty good crowd. A gentleman next to me in the audience told me that he came to the Food and Fiber Pavilion every year just to watch their performance. It's nice to know loyal fairgoers appreciate the long held traditions of the Food and Fiber Pavilion.

The Fort Worth Zoo was on the stage today and they are also a perennial favorite. They brought an assortment of animals with them that would wow any audience. We learned the difference between an opossum and a possum (possums live in Australia), saw an alligator and got to meet the cutest African Penguin.

There really is something for everyone on the events stage. I know there are still many more events on the stage but my favorite so far is the Fort Worth Zoo. That penguin will be tough to beat!

Record Sales!

There's always so much going on in the pavilion (especially on the weekends) that it's becoming difficult for me to pick what to write about. But with record GO TEXAN store sales in the pavilion, today's choice was easy!

We get really excited around here when store sales are up! Not just because it means the pavilion is busy, but it means that the GO TEXAN companies are selling a lot of product.

Each and every day, these passionate Texas companies arrive hours before the pavilion opens to prepare and set up their sampling area and yesterday was no exception. There were 11 GO TEXAN companies sampling product throughout the pavilion & it was packed in here. I mean packed. All of their hard work and sampling was worthwile because store sales were up 56 percent compared with the same weekend last year!

Pictured above is busy day in the GO TEXAN General Store and Van Roehling Sauces & Rubs sampling yet another great GO TEXAN product. Yum!

Seniors Storm the Food and Fiber Pavilion!

Yesterday was senior citizen's day at the fair. That means if you are over the age of 60 then you get to enter the fair free of charge. At 10 am there were at least 50 people waiting to enter the pavilion, and as soon as I opened the doors they started clapping & cheering! How cute is that! Juliana said the same thing happened to her on opening day of the fair, but that was the first time I experienced anything like that.

I have to tell you, as hard as we all work to make this pavilion fun, interactive, educational, aesthetically pleasing, etc., etc. etc., it's moments like these that make you happy and put a smile on your face.

Pictured above is the Retire in Texas section of the TDA GO TEXAN house exhibit. It was a very popular area of the pavilion yesterday.

I'm Back!

I feel a lot better now. For some reason I couldn't sign into my blogger account yesterday to post anything and I kind of started to freak out! There was so much to post, but nowhere to post it! Anyway, I'm back in and everything is going to be okay. Only now I can't remember what was so important...

Tuesday- We had a very nice visit from longtime pavilion sponsor, Pioneer Brand/C.H. Guenther & Son, Inc. on Tuesday. Julie Lyssy (pictured above) and three of her co-workers & I toured the pavilion and then ventured out to the fairgrounds. We ate Fletcher corny dogs, toured the new car pavilions and watched a birds of the world show. And then it was time for me to head back to the pavilion. They continued to roam the fairgrounds on their own the next couple of hours, and upon their arrival back to the pavilion, what do you know, they were eating yet another corny dog! Two in one day! They could definitely justify it because they won't have the opportunity to eat another corny dog for an entire year.

Wednesday (A) - We had a not-so-nice visit from a State of Texas Department of Health Compliance Officer (see picture above). The officer received a complaint phone call about a GO TEXAN company that has product in the General Store that is missing a USDA label or State of Texas meat inspection label. After much debate, it was determined that the product was not required to have such labeling. It's never boring around here!

Wednesday (B) - Here are a couple pictures of the TDA gift basket Jodi arranged for the charity youth auction event the State Fair is having tomorrow evening (I never realized that she was such a perfectionist - in a good way.). It looked so good and had so many great GO TEXAN products in it that both of us wanted to take it home!