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So are all the other carnival workers who toiled for hours on Sunday to erect the two dozen rides that open at the Rockingham County Fair today.

“We ain’t been to bed yet,” Crider said from the shade of the Dragon Wagon, a pint-size roller coaster.

The day before, Crider, 32, of Harrisonburg, and the crew of 20 were in Martinsburg, W.Va.

It only took a few hours to break down the rides — but the night didn’t end there. Virginia Premier Events, the company providing the entertainment, doesn’t have enough trucks to haul all the rides at once, so the crew made several trips.

Rides were still arriving Sunday evening. As soon as the trucks towing the rides park, members of the crew swarm the truck and climb to the top, finding stair steps in the ride’s metal supports. In minutes, parts start to spring into place like the pictures of a pop-up book.

Most rides, like the Dragon Wagon that Crider worked on, only take an hour or two to assemble. Others, like the Ferris wheel, take hours.

All afternoon, it took a crew of six men tugging at the spokes of the wheel to prop the supports in place.

“It’s miserable,” said carnival worker Bryan Smith, of Paw Paw, W.Va. “It’s big. It’s a lot of parts. It’s a lot of trouble.”

By sunset though, the spokes of the wheel unfold like a paper fan.

There’s not much “oooing” and “ahhhing” though, even as the sun casts its glow on the wheel. They still have a rock-climbing wall to hoist and a scooter ride to assemble.

“It’s hard work,” Crider said. “But I’ll tell you what. I quit another job for this. There ain’t nothing better than this fair way of life.”

‘We Try To Do Things Right’

Crider’s not the only one preparing for Rockingham County’s 58th annual fair. Like every year, the Sunday before opening day is a whirlwind of activity as exhibitors, businesses and livestock owners prepare for the fair.

Sarah Joseph, 19, was just one of dozens of farmers who arrived early. She’ll show four heifers and one bull this year.

“I started early,” said Joseph, of Woodsedge farm in Elkton. “I started clipping them last week, basically to make them pretty.”

In her last year as a junior competitor, Joseph wants to make it a good one.

“We try to do things right,” she said. That meant coming early to lay down bedding, install railing and wash each of her cows.

Taking Lavender, a 4-month-old calf, by the reigns, Joseph fashions a quick knot to hitch her cow to the barn’s railing and sets to work.

With a scrub brush, she douses the small black cow in citrus shampoo.

“It cools them off,” she said. “Usually they like it.”

This cow isn’t so sure.

It’s Lavender’s first time off the farm.

“She’s a bit stubborn,” Joseph said as she tugged on the reigns. She pulled her over closer to an electric outlet, where a blow dryer is waiting to dry her hide.

“Most of them are nervous the first time,” Joseph said of her cows. “This fair, it is big stuff for a lot of people.”

It is for Caleb Lam.

He’s showing two heifers from his family’s farm in Mount Solon. Lam, 13, has cared for Panda and Princess almost since their birth.

On Sunday, he came early to hang curtains and position a few potted plants around his nook of the barn.

“Everything has got to be just so,” he said. “It’s all about looking good. I mean, this is big time. This is the Rockingham County Fair.”