County fair

[Chicken lady]

Tomorrow starts fair week again!

time to sift through the collections and label my entries for drop off over the next few days. (Eggs go in last)

i actually have a few more items to finish and fire before Monday, but I know where my soap is. Last year my studio was such a mess I couldn't find it and had to scratch.

[early morning]

That's way cool, Chicken Lady! Good luck with all your entries! I have scratched an entry or two in my time.... once a jar of jam that I dropped IN the horticulture hall - very embarrassing. I have lots of fond memories of the county fair - growing up in 4-H with horses, and my kids had rabbits, chickens, cooking/sewing projects - by the time they worked their way through the junior fair board, I was burned out on fairs! But this year I went to the Montgomery Co Fair, since they are moving the grounds and laying waste to the lovely grounds in town. I attended it yearly as a small child, before we moved, and entered things there as an adult, since I work in the county, and I wanted one last look at the great old buildings. Some of my students from one of our residential programs were exhibiting chickens and I wanted to see how they did. One had the champion American Breeds rooster - he was SO excited. These are inner city kids, and to see them interacting with farm kids in an appropriate manner, and really enjoying themselves, was just wonderful. Long live the county fairs!

[Chicken lady]

Sweet! My Children were in 4H for 14 years. This year dd and I both worked as judges for a neighboring county, and dd is writing a state level project book as part of her senior honors thesis.

i am still lightly involved with the goat kids (pun works) in our county, and help out as much as I can during the week. I love the fair. It is my annual vacation. It's weird, because I generally hate crowds, but somehow, fair is different. I try to stay off the midway though.

[iris lilies]

The county fairs are fun! One year we went to 3 county fairs.

[Tybee]

We love the county fairs and went to two last year, for the horse pulls!

[early morning]

I love the horse pulls! And the tractor pulls - esp the kids pedal tractors. And the combine demolition derby was always one of our favorites. When my kids were heavily involved, we mostly packed our food in, but we always hit the Grange dining hall, the pork producers booth for chop sandwiches (with the bone, which they don't do now, so not nearly as tasty..) and the dairy producers for freshly made ice-cream and malteds. Those were our yearly treats that we really looked forwards to! thanks for the memories, cl!

[goldensmom]

I love county fairs especially the animals and anything 4-H (throw back to my youth). We are fortunate to live equidistant between 3 county fairs so we get a full dose of county fairs every year. We skip the midway, too much sensory overload.

[Tybee]

When we lived in Western New York, we were in dairy country, and we loved the dairy barn best of all, seeing the beautiful Guernseys, my favorites. And yes, the fresh milk!

[CathyA]

When I was young, I loved going to the county fair and watching the draft horse pulls. Pretty neat! I like tractor pulls too, but the horse pulls are a lot quieter! :)

[jp1]

When I was a kid/teenager I used to love going to visit my aunt in small town Kansas during county fair week. The rodeo was always my favorite part, but the whole week was just a good time. So much to do! And seeing all the country kids with the animals they had raised for the fair was so far removed from my city boy existence. We'd never even had a dog or a cat, so the idea of someone my age being responsible for a goat or a sheep was just crazy to me.

[nswef]

As a suburban kid we went to the Allegheny County fair in the Pittsburgh area for the entertainment ( Bobby Rydell was one I reacall), the sewing building and the flowers. When I moved to Frederick, MD in 1971 I was given tickets to the Great Frederick Fair...I was sorely disappointed at the lack of flowers. Since then I have become a huge fan of the fair. I love the animals and the large farm equipment that they let the kids climb all over, the canning and sewing displays, the 4H projects. The food- country ham sandwiches, ice cream. Horse racing. Jousting.

[happystuff]

Today is the last day of our county fair. It seems to be shrinking, but every year I hope for the next year to be bigger. It is nice and crowded, but there seems to be a decrease in "participation" as far as events and submissions, etc.

[Chicken lady]

Participate!

i am a one womán campaign to get my friends to enter stuff in the fair!

[happystuff]

When we first moved to this area several decades ago, I used to participate every year - mainly entering crochet items and volunteering. Then life changed and participation dropped. Last year both my dd and I entered some items and it was very fun! This year we didn't make the deadline. Now I'm thinking... NEXT year! lol.

[Tybee]

We go to the fair tomorrow. Dog agility and obedience, draft horse day, and horse pull in the grandstand. Yay!