Triangle woman honors her dad's State Fair tradition by wearing his pants

The fair, which is celebrating its 150th year, has been a tradition in Lanier's life for as long as she can remember.

"It's just a constant in my life that's been there my whole life," she said. "And so have the pants!"

Lanier has worn the same pair of corduroy pants for the past 23 years. They are the same trouser that her father, Johnny Lanier, wore when he visited the State Fair every year.

"He just called them his State Fair pants," she said. "And always on opening day (because) he had to check out the farm equipment."

Johnny Lanier was a tobacco farmer who lived in Wake County and would always take his daughter, Betty, to the fair on opening day. She said she has been visiting the annual attraction since 1946.

"I've never missed one," she said. "I've been here when it rained so hard the umbrellas would turn upside down."

Her dad's trousers hold a special place in her heart because the last year Johnny Lanier visited the fair he intuitively knew that visit would be his last. He passed away in 1994.

"And I told my husband 'I'm not going back to the State Fair,'" she recalled. "And he said, 'You're going.' And I've saved these pants out of all of (my dad's) clothes."

She said she returned to the fair after after father died as a way of keeping his memory alive. She said she remembers him fondly and when she does, he's wearing those pants.

Her husband, Virgil, said he would never try the pants on.

"I might get whooped if I tried," he said.