'Part of our DNA': The family connection behind a mascot costume at the Iowa State Fair

Putting on a mascot costume is all about paying attention to body language, a lightning bug told the Des Moines Register.

Some kids are easy and they'll come right up for a hug. Others might wonder what's going on: that's when you break out a one-finger wave with a quick "hi." Every kid's different, and they may not always go for a high five or a fist bump.

Another tip? Comfy clothes, said Travis Head, who volunteered to transform into a lightning bug for MidAmerican Energy nearly every day at the Iowa State Fair for a second year. Head learned that after showing up once in his work clothes, complete with jeans and steel-toed boots.

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"That was a rough day," Head said. "That's something you do once."

He joined his counterpart, a "Sniffasaurus" dinosaur, for a shift at the MidAmerican Wind Turbine and Education Center on Thursday as families streamed in to check out interactive exhibits.

Head, who lives in Ankeny, handles utility meter work for MidAmerican in his day job. He might need to respond to a fire or shut off someone's gas, which also takes empathy for what could be another person's difficult circumstances.

The skills he developed in past gigs have also helped him during his life as a firefly for MidAmerican. Head has done sales work, worked at a gym as a personal trainer and even sold life insurance.

"You've got to read people within two seconds," he said. He was shy as a kid growing up on the east side, but he's become outgoing as an adult. Head even preaches at his lifelong church, the Church of Christ near the Fairgrounds, where he's learned to read the faces of his fellow congregants.

But putting on the costume has an added bonus, Head said, as it cuts through political divisions. He also finds joy in helping families build memories and always remembers to give an extra wave to the kid across the room.

"It's refreshing. It's nice to be able to be in there and see the good side of humanity," he said.

Head sees that everywhere in the tens of thousands of people roaming each day at the fair, which is in his family's DNA.

"The fair is in my blood," he said.

He grew up down the street from the Fairgrounds before moving to Pleasant Hill around the fifth grade, though his house was a little too far for his family to cash in on fair parking. He learned how to ride his bike on the midway when the fair wasn't going on.

Head's great-uncle had an ice house and delivered to vendors during the fair. Another relative had a horse shoeing and tack shop by the Horse Barn, and his grandfather would shoe horses.

Head used to help pick watermelons and load them on the truck for his cousin's fruit stands. His grandparents would go to the flea market on Saturdays at the Fairgrounds and offer the grandkids a doughnut if they joined.

Head knows the best route to avoid traffic and the best bathroom on the grounds after spending so much time at the fair.

And his brother worked his way up from the grounds crew in high school to leadership roles at the fair, including event coordinator and superintendent of the fair's museum , where Head has volunteered.

Getting to keep giving back and being involved with the fair as part of his family's long ties is "surreal," Head said, and he continues to cherish the experience every year.

The motto of the Minnesota State Fair, "The Great Get-Together," applies to Iowa's fair, too, he said: you come because there's a good chance you'll run into an old teacher, or an old neighbor, or someone else from a past life.

"You never know who you're going to run into," Head said.

Chris Higgins covers the eastern and northern suburbs for the Register. Reach him at chiggins@registermedia.com or 515-423-5146 and follow him on Twitter @chris_higgins_ .

This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: 'Part of our DNA': The family connection behind a mascot costume at the Iowa State Fair