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Proairshow, LLC

The Unofficial Site

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Fair exhibit

• Hand built of balsam wood with no kits by Leonard King.

• Came to us at the restoration cost of $25,000

• It is a miniature. The difference between a miniature and a toy is that everything works and is at scale. For example, if we remove those tent pegs, the tent will fall. Every aspect of the miniature is in working condition.

• Mr. King was a great engineer, but not a terrific speller. But that is the charm of this object as a wonderful example of folk art. We would never change or “fix” any aspect of this exhibit.

• We were fortunate to have Mr. King around when we were restoring it. While it differs slightly from how he displayed it, we had his full approval for what we did with it.

• All the pieces can be packed up and would fit into the model trains, in case it needs to go on the road!

• This is his memory of the fair over a number of years and is not meant to be an exact replica of a particular year.

• Anderson County Fair started in 1901 and it ran continuously until 2008. 2008 is the first year since 1901 that the fair did not come to Anderson. Anderson University purchased the fair ground for expansion of the school’s different colleges.