THE BALLOON MAN

For 80 years, family has fed fairgoers, keeping tradition at Dixie Classic Fair

By: Michael Hastings | Winston-Salem Journal
Published: September 30, 2012
During the Great Depression, Woody McBride hit the road with three brothers, finding work with a carnival when jobs at home were scarce.

Eighty years later, McBride's family is still in the carnival business.

Woody McBride died in 1988, and the N.C. Association of Agricultural Fairs posthumously named a humanitarian award after him.

McBride's Concessions is now carried on by his daughter, Bettie McBride, and her daughter and son-in-law, Bess and Bobby Brinkley, who live in Walnut Cove.

McBride's has a total of seven concessions at the Dixie Classic Fair. Two of them are large "cafeterias" that include shaded seating. The company also has two cotton-candy stands, a steak-sub stand, and, last but not least, two turkey-leg stands.

It rained on and off at the fair Saturday. As a result, business at the McBride concessions areas was down a significant amount, said Bess Brinkley, though she couldn't yet say exactly how much.

"We're holding our own," she said. "It's been extremely difficult. We're hoping people will come on weekdays and evenings" to make up for Saturday's losses.
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