It’s fair time and I am so excited. We finally get to go to the fair after two years of waiting. As you can tell, I love the fair and all that it entails.
The Stevens County Fair has always been a part of my life. My parents took us to the fair every year on Saturday afternoon. We would go through all the buildings, walk what I thought was very slowly through the exhibits, maybe eat something and finally go on a few rides. We waited a year to go on those rides and my parents always made us wait even longer, for what reason, I don’t know. Maybe it was to make us appreciate it.
When I was a little older, we became involved in 4-H so we also had our own exhibits to look at and proudly boast about ribbons earned. There were a lot of clubs back then so competition was intense and I never did earn a state fair trip. That didn’t dissuade me as I worked hard on each one. I especially enjoyed the clothing project.
Now for the last 40 years I have been in a Homemakers Club so I continue to exhibit items at the fair. Usually my forte is horticulture but after moving to town, my garden isn’t as good as it was in the country. Now I focus more on food preservation and a few flowers. There have been some very happy days when seeing the results and also some very frustrating ones. However, I always view it as a learning experience and like to read the judges comments.
Of course the food at the fair is a high point. I have a few favorites that I have to have on the first day and last day. Then there are others that fill in on the other days. We usually hit the fair at least four or five times so I have plenty of opportunities to try new things.
As I get older there is something else I really like about the fair and that is the people. I get to see friends that I only run into at the fair. This year that will mean that I have not seen some of them for two years. I love to chat briefly and catch up a little bit. It is also fun to watch some of the livestock judging events and see what a great job the 4-Hers do with their animals.
Sometimes we worry about the weather for the fair but this year I think we will be happy to get some of those typical fair rain showers. If it means muddy grounds, we don’t care. We will take the rain any way we can get it.
I hope to see you all at the fair this weekend. Be sure to thank a fair board member for making this one of the best fairs in the state.