Praise is due the Logan County Tourism Commission for bringing in one of the top traveling circuses in the United States for four performances in Russellville recently. Despite the record heat in June, the shows got rave reviews.

While we were vending vegetables at the Farmers' Market next door, we were treated to watching the elephants take their afternoon baths. It was a beautiful scene as the contented animals came up to their makeshift bathhouse, lay down and waited their turn to be treated royally.

We're fortunate that Dick Dickerson, who now chairs the Tourist and Convention group, had the connections to get the circus here. There seem to be very few avenues of entertainmnet with which he does not have a connection.

The tents and booths which accompanied the Carson & Barnes Circus came at a welcome time. Our neighbors to the east in Simpson County were holding their huge fair at the time with major attractions several nights in a row. That was an unintentional slap in the face of a much larger county like Logan, which may have a fair that satisfies the powers that be in Lexington, but doesn't resemble the traditional county fairs that most of us grew up with and that our neighbors still enjoy.

The youth steer and calf show, which is a joint production of the Extension Service and the ever-expanding Logan County Cattlemen's Association, is very well done. It's the focal point of the entire Extension year. It would be outstanding at any time, however, not just as the moment that we're calling a fair.

The circus grounds looked a lot like a fairgrounds, and for that we should be especially grateful.

People like Ben Ferguson, Mike Gilliam and the late Joyce Gilliam worked diligently to keep a fair here for much longer that we would have had it without their thankless efforts. Hopefully, a new generation will come along to restore a Logan County Fair like the ones many of us grew up with and like they still have in Warren, Christian, Simpson and Robertson counties.

On the other hand, we still set the standard for doing festival and weekend events right. Over a six-week period, countless volunteers put together a string of fun, inspiring and entertaining activities that continuously renewed our faith in the community spirit of the people of the Land of Logan.

Since the middle of May, we've had the Adairville Strawberry Festival, the Lewisburg Purple Martin Festival, the Logan County Arts & Film Festival, the Progressive Agricultural Safety Day, the Town and Country Garden Tour, Relay for Life, An Evening with Rosemary, the celebration of the renovated airport, Memorial Day and Fourth of July observances, benefit runs, and three super events in Auburn--the Bluegrass Jam, the Antique Engine and Tractor Show, and the Cruise-In.

Activities abound at Shakertown and at Lake Malone, our two tourist attractions that are open to the public most of the year. The Red River Fish & Game Club/Habitat and the Coon Range Fish & Game Club hold numerous events open to the public, as does the Red River Meeting House Association. And we still have the 8th of August, Auburn Autumn Days, the Logan County Tobacco & Heritage Festival, and a brochure-full of Christmas activities to go.

The Russellville Blues Society has opened up a whole new entertainment venue for us, bringing in some of the top performers in that musical genre. You'd be hard pressed to find another community anywhere in a widespread areas which has that level of entertainment for free in such a peaceful and diverse setting.

I know I'm going to offend several people whom I omit, but some of those who come to mind as unpaid volunteers making these events happen are Drexel Johnson, Bobby and Keith Wilson, Gay Davis, the Barnes family of Adairville, Chad Campbell, Bob Wylie, J.R. and Zelma Cundiff, Tina Callahan-Dye, Carrell Hughes, Lorrie Hopper, Carol Elliott, Heather Silvey, Donnie and Lillian Riley, Russell and Pam Jones, Annie Statton, Jerry and Margaret Humble, Steve Dilliha, John Alcott, Tim and Robyn Minor, Eddie Brooks, Mack Mallory, Brent Summers, Bobby Blackford, Greg Head, Joe Gran and Sally Clark, Samra Smith, Michael and Susan Gough, Mary Lucy Franklin, Pat Basham, Michael Morrow, Janie Sanders, Bob and Joyce Guion, Inez Bradshaw, Jo Orange, Kenny Stinson, Otis Bilbrey, Jana Hanks, Evelyn Richardson, the entire Tourism Commission and hundreds involved in the Relay effort.

Not everything is perfect. It's not anywhere. Yet we have reason to be proud and grateful to those who make our lives more interesting and entertaining.