ALTENBERG, Mo. -- Some rode rides. Others rode horses. And nearly everyone found time to grab a jack salmon fish sandwiches, munch on a bratwurst or sip a soda.

The party was so happening that even the mules were jumping.

Why not? It's all part of the fun of the East Perry Community Fair.

The fair, held Friday and Saturday, made for a packed fairgrounds with a section for amusement park rides, music and entertainment, tons of food -- even the new fad of fried candy bars. There were also commercial booths, livestock shows and the always-popular mule jumping contest.

"It's just a lot of fun," said Gena Welker of Patton, Mo., who brought her two daughters, Bridget and Whitney. "It's family-oriented, it's free parking and admission. It's everything they advertised."

The first fair was held in 1919, but the annual tradition stopped in the 1920s. It picked up in 1938, stopped again for World War II and has been held continuously since 1946.

In between rides Saturday, 13-year-old Jacob Schnurbusch of New Wells breathlessly rattled off why he likes coming the fair.

"Mostly it's to hang out with friends," he said. "We get to ride rides and stuff. If I were home, I'd just be playing on my computer, and I'd rather be here outside. This is a lot more fun."

The East Perry Community Fair is one of the biggest events Altenberg has all year. People come to see events like the steer show, Apple Creek Hee-Haw Show, tractor pull and the Saxony Hills Community Band concert.

"It's just an old-fashioned fair," said Fred Eggers, publicity chairman for the fair. "People want to come out and show their cattle and livestock or just come here to have a good time."

With no entrance fee, there's no way to gauge how many people attend, but Eggers estimated that 15,000 will have attended the two-day event.

Of course people come from Perry County, but Eggers said some travel further than that.

"We get people from Southern Illinois and Southeast Missouri, too," he said. "People who grew up here but moved away come back. It's sort of a home-coming every year for them."

"Some people take vacations just to come to the fair," said Lloyd Roth, one of the fair's nine board members.

Eggers said the new attraction this year was a mule team called "A Touch of Ear." It features the nation's only blonde sorrel draft mule hitch, owned by J. Mack Bohn, a rancher and farmer from Oklahoma who takes his team around the country.

Bohn's mules, weighing 2,000 pounds each and costing $1,200 a day to maintain, drew crowd attention that rivaled some of the food stands.

While people come for a variety of reasons, Eggers said that the mule-jumping contest is the most popular event.

"People get tickled by that," he said. "It's a good show."

smoyers@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 137