Wednesday, September 20, 2017

A Visit to the Fair

In case you haven't figured it out, I'm a small town girl at heart. I have lived in large cities, small cities, suburbs, and small towns, and the thing that feels the most comfortable to me is the small town. I think that is because that's how I grew up. I now live in the urban sprawl between two large cities, but within that sprawl are pockets of small towns trying to preserve their way of life and I am lucky to be close to two of them. Last weekend one of them had one of those small town events that made me feel at home--the community fair. It's free and fun and close; the perfect combination. If you've been reading here a while, you know that the fair is something I try to participate in every year.
These goats were happy to be petted.

The fair in some ways feels like it is from another time. It's small enough that there's enough room for parking, but big enough that you're bound to see several people you know at any one visit.  The very young to the very old enter things to compete for ribbons. You see vegetables, quilts, photos, Lego creations, eggs, livestock, baked goods, canned goods, etc. all hoping for a ribbon that comes with a cash prize. You can also enter a tractor pull, veggie vehicle races, a pet show, and an ice cream making contest among other things. You can enjoy music from local bands as well as craft demonstrations and a fashion show of homemade outfits. Just picture yourself back with Andy, Opie, and Aunt Bee going to the Mayberry Fair and I think you'll get the idea.

I didn't get many pictures, but here are a few of the things that I enjoyed this year at the fair.


The fair opens Friday morning to school groups. I worked this year with the children's librarian during their visits.  The kids loved her Man-in-the-Yellow-Hat costume from the Curious George books as well as her monkey puppet.


The inside exhibits are in the Fire Department's activities buildings. I entered green beans, herbs, flowers, and a photo. I got a variety of  ribbons from these entries as well as no ribbons on some. If you squint, you can see my basil in the background that got a second place.


Uncle Billy was on vacation, but he told me it was okay if I entered some onions for him.


I always like looking at the needlework section. In the past I've won ribbons in this department for some of my knitting and x-stitch but this year I did make anything that I could enter. 


The fire department always has a truck or two there for kids to explore until there's a call. Then they're off!


However, the giant John Deere tractor doesn't go anywhere. Most of the people in this crowd are waiting on their kids who are exploring the tractor. They are also looking at the jazz band playing to the right and some are talking to neighbors. This is a fairly typical scene. Later that night it was more crowded, but never uncomfortably so.


I always find the chickens on display interesting because of the variety of bright colors they have.


There were several baby animals on display. Among them were a lamb and its mother.


As well as a donkey foal and its mother.


So there is a brief visit to the fair with me. Maybe next year, I'll show you some of the food traditions. In the meantime, I should get busy making things I can enter next year.



12 comments:

  1. Wow, your fair is late. Our county fair is the 4H fair. It's free to attend, but only 4H kids can enter the competitions. My daughter was in 4H for a couple of years and enjoyed it. We go at least once every year to see the animals and to check out the projects. I let my niece (who has a one-year-old) know about it this year--she took her little one, who loved seeing the sheep and the goats. You're right, it gives a nice rural/small town feel to attend a fair. We live in suburbia but it isn't far to "country living" from where we live.

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    1. The county fairs are usually earlier. This is a smaller community fair and I think they have it at this time so that it doesn't compete with the larger ones.

      One reason, I like this fair is that they encourage EVERYONE to enter things. When I was growing up, we a festival in my town that was much like a fair. At that time only 4-H kids could enter things. I did scouts instead of 4-H so I never got a chance. So being able to enter things here is making up for a disappointment I had as a kid.

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  2. I have not been to the fair in years and years. This and all your pictures make me want to go!

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    1. It can be a lot of fun. The larger county fair is not as much fun for me. Parking is not easy and you have to pay $10 to get in. And it's usually crowded. While I enjoy some of the exhibits and food, I determined years ago if I can go to the local one, I don't need to go to the county one.

      Maybe some weekend next year, you can visit one. It might be a fun thing to do with your granddaughter if she's around.

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  3. I've never been to such a fair, even when my daughter was active in FFA because she never showed anything, but I really enjoy looking at pictures of fairs that other people have visited/participated in. Congrats on your 2nd place for your basil, that's awesome!

    I loved all the animal pictures but the close-up of the chicken made me laugh for some reason! Greg and I always wondered why people would have a donkey since they're not used as burden animals anymore, at least in this country, I would guess. We usually saw a herd of cows and one donkey. That was just weird. And then I read an article that explained that donkeys are good at guarding against predators, apparently. Makes sense, but we would have never thought of it!

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    1. This fair was originally sponsored by the FFA and FHA at the high school and began in 1926. It has since expanded and moved from the high school, but has much of the same feel. Or so I'm told. I haven't been around long enough to have that history with it.

      Donkeys are also used as companions for horses. Horses are herd animals and do better with another animal around. Our neighbor had a donkey for her horse and the donkey was the favorite of the kids because he was friendly and would come to the fence to be petted.

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  4. What a fun fair! We have the large county fairs, but nothing like your smaller local fair. Congratulations on your 2nd place win!

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    1. Thanks. This fair gives out a lot of ribbons. If you enter several things, you're bound to get at least one. I love how encouraging they are.

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  5. Awesome pics! That "Curious George" costume was hilarious and the quilts were gorgeous. That can become such an art I think.

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    1. Quilting is truly an art. I have seen some amazing creations in this area. However, even if I had the eye to envision a design, I'm not sure I would have patience to finish it.

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  6. Live & Learn,

    The fair looks like great fun! We used to go to our local fair in our early years and we keep saying we need to go again but have yet to do it. There's always something standing in our way. This year, it's DH's recovery from retina attachment surgery. He's doing better but his dept of field is way off and he still needs two other surgeries on the eye. It's been a complicated year! I really enjoyed your photos, though. I'd love to capture all the fair activity like you, maybe someday I can! Have a good weekend!

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    1. It does seem like it always something. I hope your DH continues to improve with his eye difficulties. This fair is easy for us because it's only 15 minutes away in an area where we go all the time. We can pop in and out whenever we want because there is no entrance fee.

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