The Georgia State Fair has been around longer than even the oldest of the old-timers who can still remember penny Ferris wheel rides and bizarre carnival sideshows.

This week the Macon institution marks its 150th year.

"It's the original. It's definitely the oldest in the state," said Lou Davis, Georgia State Fair board president, standing in the 15-acre lot at Central City Park that's being transformed this week into a midway.

Despite changing times and competition from another Middle Georgia fair, people are drawn back to the Georgia State Fair each year because of its one-of-a-kind entertainment, Davis said.

Edwin Chase, 64, of Macon, remembers seeing his first sideshow there: a man with a shrunken head.

"You always knew in advance you were going to walk in and be disappointed," said Chase, who attended his first Georgia State Fair when he was 8.

That year, he went with a busload of other orphans from the Methodist Home, who are given free entrance and ride money each year.

"If you didn't get to go to the fair, it was like you didn't go to heaven," he said. "Everything is so exaggerated - the sounds, the colors, the foods."

A COLORFUL HISTORY

The fair's history is nearly as colorful as the bright lights of the midway.

First held in Stone Mountain in 1846, the fair's gate admission was just 10 cents. By 1850, it had grown so large that it moved to Atlanta. Then in 1851, officials moved it again to Macon because of its central location in the state.

Since then, the fair has been held each year except from 1861-1865, when it shut down for the Civil War, fair officials said.

Among the snapshots from its history, the fair once gave price breaks to men riding in on horseback. In 1860, people came from miles to see its foreign goods exhibit. And in 1940, the "silver rocket" thrill-ride debuted there, previously operated only in Toronto and Atlanta.

And in 1979, Gabora the Gorilla Lady - an apelike woman - was a main sideshow attraction.

Through the years, the fair changed with the times and banned gambling devices and "girlie shows."

But it has endured.

"If you grew up in Macon, Georgia, the fair was almost like Thanksgiving or Christmas," Davis said. "It was another holiday. The food, the rides. It's just a good time."

The Exchange Club of Macon, which took management of the fair in 1942 and donates its proceeds to local charities and pays for Central City Park's upkeep, still runs the annual event.

In the 1930s, Jack Lasseter, now 75, first started attending the Georgia State Fair with his twin brother.

Lasseter used to save money he earned all year, mostly from his allowance and mowing lawns, just to get a ticket, he said.

"For people that grew up in that time, it was the highlight of the year," he said. "We didn't have competition for entertainment."

The Round Building, with its high ceilings, may have been built to house the circus that came to the Georgia State Fair each year, fair officials said. Trapeze artists used to warm up there.

Ken Taylor, 74, of Macon, recalls climbing under the park fence to get inside when he was about 6.

"I didn't want to pay the 50 cents it cost to get in," Taylor said. "They used to have nothing but blocks of people coming from Macon and surrounding cities. It was the biggest attraction."

The fair marked record attendance in 1979 with 130,000 visitors.

In 1980, the fair made headlines when a 1,400 pound beefalo - part cow, part buffalo - ran away from the livestock exhibit toward Ga. 16, and into the Ocmulgee River.

But in later years, the fair started losing some of its appeal and the crowds began to wane.

STATE FAIR GETS COMPETITION

In the 1980s, state agricultural leaders were working to build new state fairgrounds, in part because of complaints that the Macon fairgrounds were too small.

The result: the Georgia National Fairgrounds and Agricenter in Perry.

With both Macon and Perry vying for the state-owned facility, Perry eventually won out because some people in Macon didn't want it, said Johnny Webb, Georgia National Fair and Agricenter historian.

Perry, he said, "rolled out the red carpet and welcomed them with open arms."

The first Georgia National Fair was held in 1990 with an attendance of 270,667, Webb said.

Last year it boasted 390,000 people, he said.

Georgia State Fair organizers said that although they took a hit, there are no hard feelings.

"We have no sour grapes," Davis said. "We're looking to the future."

Last year Davis said the Georgia State Fair had attendance of about 50,000, lower than usual because the first day was rained out.

This year, officials hope for an uptick in attendance, and one Exchange Club member said he hoped for 100,000.

Last week, about 20 men hoisted a steel, flashing Midwest Midway carnival sign in Central City Park as crews prepared for today's opening.

Jars of strawberry preserves, pickles and relish were neatly shelved inside an exhibit room, among handmade clothes and arts and crafts.

Among this year's new attractions are a fireworks display, an exotic animal petting zoo and "The Wall of Death" - motorcycle riders circling a cage driving more than 30 mph.

"In connection with 150 years, we've rolled back admission prices from $6 to $5," Davis said. "We would like to have a huge crowd and break all kinds of records."

And, he said, they want to continue preserving history.

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IF YOU GO
What: 150th annual Georgia State Fair
When: Gates open 10 a.m.-10 p.m. daily, through Friday. Open 11 a.m.-11 p.m. Saturday. Open 2-8 p.m. Sunday
Where: Macon's Central City Park
Cost:$5 at the gate, children under 48 inches, free. Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday are $15 unlimited rides nights.
Information: 746-7184

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This week's highlights
Today: Chili cook-off, 6:30 p.m.
Tuesday: FFA commercial dairy heifer show, 4:30 p.m.
Wednesday: Free bingo, 5-7 p.m.
Thursday: Grapevine performs, 8-11 p.m.
Friday: Fireworks show, dusk
Saturday: Clogging contest, 11 a.m.
Sunday: Fried green tomato eating contest, 6 p.m.