By SAM HATCHER

What can you say?

Year after year it only gets bigger and better.

The story is no different this year.

Our county fair continues to break attendance records and be recognized as one of the best fairs in the nation.

Working in the Rotary Club booth Monday night, I had the opportunity to sell hamburger specials to two couples back-to-back from Illinois.

Both couples now live in Wilson County. The first couple, probably in their mid-30s, said it was their first visit to the fair, while the second, a retired pair living in the Mt. Juliet area, had been to the event before.

Seeing both couples, years apart in age, enjoying the mild temperatures and taking in all the amenities and pleasures of the county fair was a strong reminder that Wilson County is a great place to work and raise a family and not a bad place to retire.

Congratulations to the army of volunteers in our community who are working each night at the fair flipping hamburgers in a civic club booth, parking cars, providing golf cart transportation for those who need it, collecting and selling tickets, or performing any one of dozens of other tasks.

This is truly a signature event for which we should all be proud in Wilson County.

Local connection to Little Leaguers

Despite those kids competing in the Little League World Series being from Goodlettsville, they still have the name Tennessee behind them and that’s good enough for most of us to have an interest in their championship quest in Williamsport, Penn.

Wow, what an achievement for a bunch of pre-teen youths!

Still in the winners’ bracket, they will take the field again tonight in the double elimination tournament. ESPN will carry the game live beginning at 7 p.m.

There is at least one local connection to the team.

Jayson Brown, a center fielder for Goodlettsville, is the nephew of Steve and Lisa Brown. Steve is the manager of Medical Waste Resources based in Lebanon and Lisa is a vice president at CedarStone Bank.

Jayson was spotlighted on ESPN for a diving fly ball catch on Thursday as one of ESPN’s “plays of the day.”

On Sunday, with the game tied 5-5 going into the top of the sixth inning, Jayson was a hero again. He managed a 2-out, 2-strike triple that resulted in driving in two runs and allowing Goodlettsville to move ahead by a score of 7-5. Goodlettsville went on to win 9-6.