Enduring leisure involvement: the importance of personal relationships.

In this investigation we sought to explore the properties of enduring leisure involvement from the perspective of campers attending an agricultural encampment and fair in the United States. Using informants' narratives of their experiences, we sought to address the research question: 'what elements of informants' experience of the fair have sustained their involvement with it throughout their lives?' It was revealed that informants' experiences at the fair were shared experiences and that their relationships with family and friends were identified as the most important and meaningful elements of their experience. These shared meanings were held by members of informants' immediate social world at the fair and consisted primarily of family and friends staying at their tent. These relationships also provided informants with a sense of their own identities. The 10 days spent at the fair each year allowed informants to reconnect with their family history and maintain their relationships with family and friends. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]