NATCHEZ &045; Candy apples, hamburgers, corn dogs, rides, funnel cakes, stuffed animals and a dunking booth all symbolize summer fun and the fair &045; and they are all here this week for the annual Lions Club fair.

The fair started Tuesday night and lasts through Sunday at Liberty Park. The Mitchell Brothers from Slidell have brought their carnival to Natchez again.

And many of the people in the area were enjoying the fair Wednesday night. The favorite ride, for 8-year-olds JaRicky Collins and Grace Jeanfreau anyway, was the Gee Wizz, &uot;cause you get to go round and round &045; fast!&uot; Jeanfreau said.

The ride &uot;takes you up and takes you down&uot; Collins said. &uot;Your stomach feels ticklish.&uot;

Collins said he comes &uot;because it’s fun.&uot;

His mother, Beatrice, said Wednesday night was a good time to come. Besides the fact that Collins was asking to come, they came &uot;to end the summer on a good note&uot; because Collins starts third grade at Morgantown Elementary today.

The fair has shrunk in size during the years, having been a county fair complete with livestock shows in past years.

Lions Club fair chairman Marlon Copeland said the interest in the county for raising livestock has decreased, ending that part of the fair. But, the rides, games and food are still here every year.

Not only do local families come out to the fair, teenagers, young adults and people from out of town even travel to Natchez for the fair.

Franklin County residents Carrie Hunt and Ashley Weathersby made the trek to Natchez from Meadville Wednesday night to &uot;meet some new people.&uot;

Because there is &uot;nothing to do in Franklin County,&uot; at least not until their fair comes to town, Hunt and Weathersby decided to come take advantage of wristband night &045; getting to ride all the rides for only $12.

And over at the dunking booth, Bert Goldman of Natchez threw his hardest to dunk a Lion’s Club member.

He already won his girlfriend, Danielle Hammett of Ferriday, La., a huge, stuffed Scooby Doo doll at another game.

&uot;I’ve been having a good time,&uot; Hammett said.

Goldman could not pull away from the dunking booth.

&uot;He loves it,&uot; Hammett said.

He tried and tried but to no avail.

The Lions Club ran the dunking booth, as they always do, hoping to fill in some empty spots this weekend for anyone brave enough to sit in the hot seat and wait to be dunked.

The club puts on the fair every year to raise money for the many charitable things members do throughout the city, county, state and nation.

&uot;We mainly use all the proceeds to benefit our sight programs,&uot; Copeland said.

The club will reinvest the money from the fair into the community through many donations to

4 Pleasant Acre Day School

4 Eye exams and glasses to those in need

4 Hearing aids for those in need

4 Leo Club

4 Santa Clause committee

4 Lions Dixie Major baseball

The club also puts the money into leader dogs for the blind, Mid-South Lions Sight and Hearing (a hospital in Memphis) and White Canes, an organization that distributes money to many service projects for those in need because of diabetes or sight or hearing problems.

The fair is the club’s major fund-raiser, and club members are hoping for a good year this year because the last two years were hampered by the rain.