To have a cabin at the Neshoba County Fair is to have a connection to history, both with the fair itself, founded in 1889 and often with one’s family.

    A fourth generation of the Yates family of Philadelphia is now enjoying fair life in late July and early August.

    Bill and Nancy Yates took their children, William and Carolyn to the fair every year and now the siblings take their kids every summer. Bill Yates’ father first had a cabin there and the family tradition has grown.

    “I remember coming at a very young age and just playing with the other kids. You had an environment where it felt really safe and fun and carefree,” William Yates said.

    His sister, Carolyn Voyles, said she can remember the family having 12 kids ages 10 and under at their cabin. Most were friends; some were cousins.

    “We loved it,” Voyles said.

    “It was all fun all the time. We would make an annual trip to the midway where all the games and rides are,” Yates said. “Dad would take everybody in our cabin up there and we’d just play every game, ride every ride.”

    Voyles said the group stayed at the games until each child won at least one stuffed animal.

    The family would arrive the Thursday before the fair opened and didn’t leave until the Saturday after it closed. It’s the same way now and William, 40, who lives in Biloxi, and Carolyn, 36, who lives in Jackson, bring their children to the fair for the week.

    “Growing up in Philadelphia it was kind of like Christmas,” Yates said. “It was one of those things that you really looked forward to and all your friends talked about and once you got here it was just like you had hoped.”

    Yates said his children, Abby, 11; and Gully, 8; love the fair. Abby attended her first fair when she was three weeks old.

    “They see people that they only see once a year and they have these special relationships. They look forward to seeing kids their age. They are fair friends,” Yates said.

    Voyles’ children are Charlie, 2; and Jack, 4.

    “Probably the neatest thing for me is that as a child you enjoy certain parts of the fair,” Voyles said. “As a teenager you enjoy certain parts of the fair and then as an adult you enjoy different parts of the fair. Now we’re watching our children enjoy it. Throughout every phase of your life there’s something for you to enjoy.”

    One of their most memorable moments came when Voyles was about six or seven years old.

    “She fell out of the cabin one year,” Yates said. “They had a little bridge between the two cabins and it had already been removed. This was on the second floor. She ran across and there was no bridge. She fell down to the first level and landed on the edge of the sandbox, but amazingly, she didn’t break any bones.”

    Her worst injury was her pride.

    “I was embarrassed,” Voyles said.

    But that didn’t slow her down. Voyles and her brother have never missed a fair; nor have their children.