Preview - Through A Country Window by Eric E. Wright

Grandchildren give you a second kick at the can without the pain of stubbing your toe. Last fall I had a chance to relive my childhood.

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"Hi grandpa! Hi grandma!" waved 3 year old Kassandra through a watermelon grin as she floated past on a painted horse. We were at the Roseneath Fall Fair watching our grandchildren ride a beautifully restored carousel. A few years earlier the need for costly repairs had silenced its magical sound forever--so it seemed.

Roseneath is a country crossroads with the usual scattering of houses. It boasts a general store, a tiny restaurant, a combined pizza parlour and convenience store, a craft shop, a couple of churches, a consolidated school and very little else--except the fairgrounds. They dominate the village.

We threaded our way through a confusion of dusty trucks, shiny vans, cars and 4 x 4's to find a parking space. Debbie, Brian and their three girls were waiting for us at the show barn. To one side as perfect a row of sheep as I had ever seen were being judged. With their black heads, ivory-snow bodies and black stockings they looked like ladies-in-waiting being inspected before the arrival of a queen. Inside we took our place along the railing of the arena. "The cows are so white--so clean!" exclaimed Shareena as she pointed to Holsteins being led around the ring by teenagers in 4H jerseys. Clean cows! Combed sheep! Shareena perceived a trend.

Meanwhile Adrianna pulled us toward the pig exhibit while Kassandra pled with us to come look at the Bantam roosters. The music soon lured us back outside.

Sleepy Roseneath rocked. The bawl of loudspeakers from the country music hoedown fought a losing battle with the blare of amplifiers from the midway. During the occasional lull in this combat, a few bars of hurdy-gurdy music from the carousel pierced the dust rising above the scene. The cacophony drowned out the couple singing gospel on the football field. The only ones who heard their sweet sound were those examining the ring of antique cars nearby.

In the centre of the fairgrounds stands the jewel of Roseneath, a carousel crafted in Abilene, Kansas in 1906. Why would a tiny village go to such lengths to refurbish a relic?