By Jessica Honigford
Community Post
MARIA STEIN – The rows of cars and the line of still more to file in was a sight to see at the opening day of the Maria Stein Country Fest Friday night. Thousands came out over the weekend to enjoy the beautiful weather, taking in the sights and sounds of the festival.

One major attraction over the course of the weekend was the “Big Cat Encounter” show.  Lions and tigers out of Sarasota, Fla. performed tricks for hundreds of children and their parents.  “Parents make sure there are no little kids running around during the show, they look like appetizers,” animal trainer and the show’s host Clayton Rosaire said.
Rosaire, a ninth generation wild animal trainer, stressed the importance of keeping wild animals in the wild.  “There are currently more tigers in captivity in the United States than there are in the wild in the world,” he said.  He told the audience he and his family rescue wild animals from homes, where people think they can keep wild animals as pets.
During the show, the children “oohed” and “ahhhed” as Rosaire and his four tiger friends performed tricks.  Conan, a 700-plus pound male tiger, demonstrated the laziness of tigers during Rosaire’s comedy bit.  The tiger didn’t budge as Rosaire poked and prodded and even gently pulled on his massive tail.  Rosaire then had the children in the audience shout “please” and Conan jumped up and did as Rosaire said.
Among the other tigers was the white Siberian tiger, Samsung.  Rosaire told the audience white tigers, like the 500-pound male, are only born in captivity.  White tigers could not survive in the wild because of their lack of camouflage, Rosaire said.
Despite some technical audio difficulties, the “Big Cat Encounter” was a hit with the young and the old alike.
Other hits at this year’s festival were the hot air balloon launch, tractor square dancing and a stand selling “Sugar Bears,” a small marsupial that cuddles and crawls all over.