my dear 93-year old grandma was featured in our local paper this month. she is such a mover and shaker but she gets even antsier when the eastern idaho state fair comes around.
she loves the fair and that love has been instilled in most of her posterity! we all love the get our little taste of the fair each year. it's tradition...and the manwaring's love tradition!
my aunt eja was with her during the "interview" and said that grandma could hardly hold still while being interviewed...too many things to see and people to talk to! no wonder she looks like she is walking away in this picture.
i love you grandma! forever young is right!
ARTICLE TEXT: There's not much difference between an eager youngster and Eva Manwaring on a sunny day at the Eastern Idaho State Fair.
The 93-yeard old woman's face brightened with a youthful, giddy smile as she waltzed through the crowded fairgrounds wednesday afternoon. Her contagious anticipation transformed what could be an overcrowded, grease-saturated festival into a refreshing, homegrown encounter.
"It just stars while you're a kid; it's fun and you're supposed to be here," Manwaring said matter-of-factly.
Manwaring, a lifelong eastern Idaho resident, never misses the state fair.
As a youngster growing up in and around Blackfoot, she attended the weeklong festivites with her friends, riding rides and admiring animals.
But her love for the carnival rides wavered years ago after riding the Ferris while for "too long," she said.
A young Manwaring and a friend were the only riders when the Ferris wheel's operator decided to take a lunch break.
"We kept going around and around," she said. "I've never been on it since."
Years later, Manwaring raised seven children in a home across from the Bingham County Courthouse - just three blocks from the fairgrounds.
With a gaggle of youngsters in tow, Manwaring continued her fair-going tradition.
"We spent most of the week at the fair when it would come," daughter Eja Allen said. "That's just what we did every year. It just has been a part of our lives ever since I can remember."
As the Manwaring family grew, the little house on Maple Street buzzed each time the Eastern Idaho State Fair returned.
Manwaring's husband operated a makeshift parking lot in the front yard while she led the children, grandchildren, nieces and nephews to the fairgrounds.
In 2001, Manwaring moved to Idaho Falls. Her Blackfoot home was torn down and replaced by her son's office building.
But living farther from the fairgrounds hasn't deterred her.
"I told them, 'You just arrange (the office) so I have a place to stay when I come down to the fair,"' she said. "I was a camper for years. I have no problem making a comfortable bed."
Manwaring enjoys exploring the fair on her own, now that her children are grown. During fair week, she spends her days examining the quilt exhibits and art competitions - making sure the winners meet her approval. But the Indian relays are her favorite spectacle.
Grandson Bart Gardner said he enjoys taking granda to the grandstand events, such as the demolition derby.
"She gets mud in her hair and she just laughs and giggles," Gardner said. "If i didn't give her a thing for her birthday or Christmas, as long as I give her passes to the fair, it's OK."
With the 2011 Eastern Idaho State Fair coming to a close, Manwaring already has plans to attend next year's event. For her, the fair is an exciting experience no matter how old you are."
"I have good health; I don't have any aches or pains," she said. "I'm still just as curious as I was when i was young."
