By ANN PIERCEALL

Herald-Whig Staff Writer

HANNIBAL, Mo. -- It was a quiet early evening Thursday on the first night of National Tom Sawyer Days.

The Hannibal's Got Talent contest was complete, and it was still a couple of hours until Teen Night started at Tanyard Garden.

Still, as the dinner hour wrapped up, a growing number of youths and families wandered through the carnival and food vendor areas.

All the activity was along Warren Barrett Drive, around the newly renovated Clemens Field, from near the Admiral Coontz Recreation Center to about Sixth Street.

That was just fine with the early birds on hand.

"I like the carnival down here. It seems more (accessible). When everything was down around Main Street, it always seemed so crowded," said Erica Davis while she and husband, John, watched their children, Astrid and Hannah, enjoy a carnival ride.

Kevin Knickerbocker, this year's Jaycees event co-chairman, was at the food vendor area, helping to make last-minute electrical connections. He said now that everything is in place, he liked the setup.

"The carnival is pretty close, the ballpark is in the middle, and this is set up like a shotgun house," Knickerbocker said, with Tanyard Gardens at the back.

Frank Carpenter of G & amp;J Concessions said the company has been supplying food and drink at National Tom Sawyer Days for more than 30 years. He said the new location for the carnival, food and Tanyard Gardens was going to work out well. He said the size of the food vendor lot, layout and proximity to Tanyard Gardens were all big benefits.

"It's going to be a nice place to come back to year after year," Carpenter said, noting the "beautiful" permanent electrical hookups now in place.

Kylie Dickerson, 12, Alexis Dorsey, 12 and Haylee Cookson, 14, were sitting at a picnic table waiting for Tanyard Gardens to open for the Teen Night activities.

"We get to hang out with our friends," Haylee said in describing what she liked about Hannibal's annual summer festival.

Her friend Kylie was looking forward to that night's karaoke contest, while Alexis wanted to check out the Octopus ride at the carnival.

Back at the carnival, Ashley Laird watched as her son Gus, 3, took a turn on one of the carnival rides, wearing a huge smile on his face.

"We can see it from our house. He's been waiting for it to start," she said.

The McCloud family was taking in rides and carnival games. Ten-year-old Jaden already had won a plastic guitar at skeeball, and Kyliah, 4, was taking a spin on a pint-sized Octopus-like ride, while her sister Tori, 14, and their mom, Andrea, watched.

Andrea McCloud said she and her kids are big fans of National Tom Sawyer Days and will take in everything from mud volleyball to the fireworks Saturday night.

"It's a good excuse to get out and spend time as a family," she said.

--apierceall@whig.com/
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