By Martha J. Henderson

Design Editor

The 55th annual Robbins Farmers Day has been selected as one of Southeast Tourism Society's Top 20 events for the month of August 2010.

A three-day, activity-filled event that has something to offer every member of the family, Robbins Farmers Day celebrates the area's history and allows the community of roughly 1,000 -people to play host to more than 30,000 visitors annually.

Organized by the Robbins Fire Department, the town of Robbins and the Robbins Farmers Day Parade Committee, Robbins Farmers Day is set for August 5, 6 and 7, and will feature all the entertainment and activities that festival-goers have come to expect from the family-friendly event.

Largest Horse Parade

While most vendors, carnival rides and the midway will open at 9 a.m. Saturday, all eyes will be drawn to Middleton Street at 11 a.m. as the largest horse parade on the East Coast makes its way through town.

More than 400 horses, mules and wagons will parade down Middleton Street as spectators of all ages cheer them on.

Wagonmaster Odell Hussey, -following in his father Curtis' footsteps, will once again lead the parade that will include -individual horses and riders, multiple-horse hitches, buggies, riding clubs and much more.

Miss Moore County 2010 Charity Haskins and Ms. North Carolina Senior America 2010 Sarah Daffron will be among the many dignitaries featured in this year's parade.

Trophies will be awarded to parade winners in more than 20 categories, including:

n Best-dressed girl, boy, woman and man

n Best team of little mules

n Best pony-

n Best team of horses

n Best country horse rider, female and male

n Best team of little horses

n Best parade horses

n Best work horse

n Best rig

n Best mule

n Oddest rig

n Best foal

n Best team of mules

n Best pony rig

n Best saddle horse

n Best buggy

n Best riding club

n Best donkey

The awards will be presented by Hussey on the Railroad Stage after the parade.

Parade's Beginning

The popular parade began in 1955 when cousins Curtis, Branson and Graham Hussey approached Robbins Mayor Wayland Kennedy with a simple proposition: a horse-drawn buggy parade through town.

"We had to work pretty hard back then," says Odell Hussey, Curtis Hussey's son. "But betwixt laying the corn and -getting up hay, there was about a month in there that people had just a little -pleasure. They had a little vacation."

Kennedy went along with the plan, and the next Saturday, "Wagonmaster" Curtis Hussey drove his 1906 covered wagon, a family heirloom made by Tyson Buggy Works in Carthage, from the Smyrna Church community down Main Street in Robbins.

"They came down to show -people what they had," says Odell Hussey, who rode behind his father in the first parade. "I reckon they had pretty mules at that day and time. It showed the public how they'd taken care of them and how they made a -living with them. I think they had a -little bit of a pride in it."

After the first parade, the Husseys returned home, but the tradition stayed.

Three years later, the parade had grown to 65 entries, and the prize was $2 to spend in local stores. In 1968, 330 -people were involved in the parade. The -number grew to 400 by 1978.

The Robbins Fire Department took over -organizing the parade in 1985, when the previous organizer, the Robbins Area Civic Organization, disbanded.

"Farmers Day was going to fall by the wayside, and the fire department asked if we could take over the organization of the festival," says Fire Chief Jarius Garner, chairman of Robbins Farmers Day.

Now, the Robbins Farmers Day draws an average of 30,000 people to the three-day shindig and includes numerous musical acts, food vendors and awards.

"It appeals to a lot of locals because it's almost like a -homecoming," Garner says. "It's a weekend of reminiscing and seeing each other again. At the same time, we appeal to the -outside community because so many people don't get to see these kinds of -activities going on. We appeal to a very wide scope of folks."

Although Farmers Day has expanded and shifted, the Hussey family has remained a steady presence. Curtis Hussey led the parade for almost 40 years before Odell Hussey took over as wagonmaster in 1992.

Odell Hussey, along with his horses, has attended all but one year. The year he didn't make the parade, he was -bringing his wife home from an operation in Raleigh - but he still caught the end.

Top 20 Event

This year's selection as a Top 20 event by the Southeast Tourism Society isn't the first for Robbins Farmers Day. The event garnered a spot on the list in 2005, 2006 and 2007.

Founded in 1983, the Southeast Tourism Society is a nonprofit, membership -organization -dedicated to the promotion and development of tourism for its member states of Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia and West Virginia.

Since 1985, the Southeast Tourism Society has published the Top 20 Events. The best events across the Southeast -compete to receive the -prestigious Top 20 designation.

Through a nomination process, the Southeast Tourism Society chooses the Top 20 events going on in the year, and publishes this list of winners quarterly.

To be nominated for a Top 20 Event, an event must be at least in its third year and must have a minimum attendance of 1,000.

Being designated as a Top 20 Event earns Robbins Farmers Day extensive -exposure in the U.S. and Canada. The Top 20 Events -publication is sent to more than 1,600 newspapers, magazines, radio stations, TV stations and others. The -combined circulation runs into the millions.

In addition, the Top 20 Events are mentioned in the Southeast Tourism Society's website, www.southeasttourism.org.

The Southeast Tourism Society membership includes state -travel offices, attractions, hotels, motels, resorts, convention and visitors bureaus, airlines, car rental agencies, newspapers, magazines and other travel--related organizations.

For more information, visit the Robbins Farmers Day website at www.robbinsfarmersday.com.

Contact Martha J. Henderson at mjhenderson@thepilot.com. Newsroom intern Kellen Moore contributed to this article.