COLUMBIA, Tenn. (WTVF) — On Friday morning, cars started lining up at the Maury County Fairgrounds.
Technically, the gates won't open to the general public for several more hours. But hundreds of special guests were about to arrive.
It left volunteers with the Maury County Elks Lodge busy cooking dozens of hamburgers and high schoolers waiting by the entrance to welcome folks inside the fairgrounds.
So who were the special guests? Kids and adults with special needs. For the next two hours, they had exclusive access to the Maury County Fair.
It's a program called My Day at the Fair.
Mikey Jaco and his mom have been coming since the program first started 12 years ago.
"He’s been talking about it all week, every day, he’s been counting it down," said Mikey's mom. "No matter how hot or if it’s raining or anything."
The reason they keep coming back? It may easily be Mikey's favorite day of the year. He seems to enjoy every aspect — from the rides to greeting his many adoring fans.
"Look, there’s Aunt Judy and Brittany and Jonathan and Autumn," said Mrs. Jaco.
Be sure to watch Mikey's excited reaction to all of the rides. Just click play on the video player above.
He also really enjoyed having photojournalist Bud Nelson follow his every move.
"We’re on the news!" Mikey exclaimed to everyone he knew.
But perhaps the most important reason Mikey enjoys this year after year is that he gets to be a kid without worrying about what anyone else thinks.
"You ready?" asked Mom.
"Yea I’m ready!" yelled Mikey, as they coast down a rollercoaster hill and screamed with delight.
The Maury County Fair runs through Labor Day.
Do you have more information about this story? You can email me at Chris.Davis@NewsChannel5.com.
For people of my generation, in our younger days we spent part of our weekends watching music shows like American Bandstand and Soul Train. That was before the age of music videos. Several years before Soul Train was syndicated out of Chicago, another syndicated R&B show was taped in Nashville at NewsChannel 5. Night Train aired in the 60s and included what may have been the first TV appearance for legendary guitarist Jimi Hendrix. Forrest Sanders has another great look back at station history.
-Lelan Statom
