Bay Area couple carries on family tradition by volunteering at Cracker Country for 38 years

Couple celebrates 38 years of Cracker Country volunteerism

They're what's right with Tampa Bay

TAMPA, Fla. - Florida State Fair's Cracker Country is a place that time has forgotten.

"Our oldest building is from the 1870s and our newest building is from 1917," shared Jennifer Wanecski, program manager of Cracker Country. "We are a living history museum we focus on the 1890s. We have living history building that we have brought from all over the state of Florida."

It’s a place where you can find Marthann and her husband, Claude Carter, volunteering in the garden.

"I like being outside," said Marthann Carter. "I like watching things grow."

They have planted their lives here for 38 years.

"My youngest son, who just turned 40, was two I think the first fair I worked at Cracker Country," Marthann Carter added.

She says the art of volunteering is a family trait.

"My mother volunteered a lot. My husband's mom volunteered a lot," she explained

Marthann can't remember a time when she wasn't in a garden.

"I'm not a master gardener because I just haven't done the paperwork," she said. "I haven't done the classes, but I have had garden tools in my hands since I was about five."