MAN HASN'T MISSED A FAIR IN 92 YEARS

People remember their first bicycle ride, first kiss, first date and first car, but Walter Phillips remembers very little about his first visit to the SEMO District Fair. That was in 1904.

Phillips was barely a year old when his parents took him to see the livestock and exhibits at the Fairgrounds in Cape Girardeau.

"I don't really remember the first one, but I have a picture of me sitting on my dad's knee," Phillips said. His birthday usually falls during fair week. Phillips celebrated his 93rd birthday on Monday.

Since his first visit to the Fairgrounds, Phillips hasn't missed an attraction at the SEMO District Fair, except when there wasn't one. The Fair was canceled for about 10 years during the Great Depression and World War II.

"I rode the Ferris wheel when I was 12," he said. "My cousin and I wanted to give it a try. You can see the whole country up there, that was what it looked like."

But Phillips has never been a fan of the rides. Most of the Fair is carnival rides now, he said. When he first started attending the Fair, the only rides were steam-powered Ferris wheels or merry-go-rounds. There also were free attractions.

"I saw my first octopus there," Phillips said. He also remembers seeing biplanes and parachute jumpers at the Fair. Other attractions included Model T car races at the track. Contestants would play polo using only the frame of the vehicle. Other cars were used in a "bucking horse" race: The Model T wheels would be tilted outward and a board with saddle attached added to simulate a bucking horse.

"You never could stay on that sucker," Phillips said.

But some things about the Fair haven't changed in its 141-year history: The food stands are the same.

"You could get your hamburgers and popcorn," he said. "Except there weren't big tents to sit down."

Walking through the livestock tents was always a favorite part of the Fair for Phillips, a retired farmer. "I used to take in all of it," he said. "I just like the Fair."