GREEN COVE SPRINGS – The gates were opened only an hour when organizers of the Strawberry Fest called Plant City to send another tractor-trailer load of strawberries to the Clay County Fairgrounds. …
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GREEN COVE SPRINGS – The gates were opened only an hour when organizers of the Strawberry Fest called Plant City to send another tractor-trailer load of strawberries to the Clay County Fairgrounds. The question remained: could that truck get through the hours of traffic tie-ups to deliver the extra strawberries needed at the fairgrounds?
The line to get into the Strawberry Fest was nearly 200 yards an hour before the main gates opened, and by 11:30 a.m., 90 minutes after it opened, it stretched to the back of the fairgrounds property. Worse yet, it created a logjam on State Road 16 that stretched to Penney Farms west of the fairgrounds and the Historic Triangle to the east. It also triggered a response from Clay County Sheriff Michelle Cook, including the early closure of the entry gates, and Clay County Agricultural Fair Executive Director Tasha Hyder on social media.