No fear in this fair arena

Lost in all the hoopla of the Orange County Fair -- the visits from

state officials, the endless cornucopia of master hypnotists, pig

races, a 3,400-pound steer and fried food -- was a visit from

Kathleen W. Huff.

Huff, 88, returned to the fair Thursday for an event she started

and continues to help coordinate: the Barnyard Fashion Parade.

This year wasn’t easy for Huff. Her husband, Robert, died only two

days before. They had been married for 63 years.

But she was at the fashion show, sitting snug in her wheelchair at

the livestock section’s outdoor arena. Youngsters paraded their goats

before an audience that was eager to see which contestants would win

in a series of fashion categories.

Hokey? Perhaps. But it’s really much more. Huff, a former member

of the fair board, had lofty goals when she started the fashion show

in 1960.

Huff was in Europe when World War II began. She said she saw a

kind of fear in children there that she never wanted to see suffered

here in the United States. Twenty years later, she started the

fashion parade with hopes of giving children who raise animals

something to foster confidence, not fear.

“I was determined to do something to help our country from being

frightened,” she told a Pilot reporter.

On Thursday, those children were proud and there was no fear --

though the goats might have been a bit frazzled.