It’s time! Our county fair starts this week and in a burst of uncalled-for energy, I’ve decided that I simply must enter as many categories as I possibly can.
“What is she talking about?” you city folks ask.
The annual fair is a cornerstone of small town and country life. There’s always the Midway — that long stretch of property filled with roller coasters and other rides that bring you to the brink of adrenaline depletion as well as games of chance and all manner of food that no one should put into their bodies — cotton candy (yum!) and the delights of the year such as deep-fried Kool Aid.
Over in the ag area, you’ll find pigs and cows and goats and chickens. FFA and 4H students raise these animals from infancy and enter them in the fair hoping to win the blue ribbon. (You remember Charlotte’s Web, right? Think ‘Wilber.’)
And then there are the domestic entries, which is where I’m placing my hopes. Categories range from arts and crafts to knitting and sewing, from baked goods to houseplants, from eggs to giant pumpkins.
I’ve got my goods lined up on the table in my office — a crocheted lavender vest, a daffodil yellow crocheted baby sweater and cap, jams and jellies, pickled okra, handmade jewelry. At the last minute, I’ll gather the most perfect peas and okra from my garden, the ideal eggs from the chicken coop, and I’ll bake a cake. Once I’ve delivered them to the fairgrounds, I can only sit back and hope that the judges are sufficiently impressed to award me a ribbon. I don’t even care whether it’s blue, just please don’t let me embarrass myself!
Provided that my domestic arts receive good marks at the fair, I’ll donate them to a United Way fundraiser that’s coming up in a few weeks where they will be auctioned off to the highest bidder. (Not the cake, of course.)
So wish me luck, please. If you’re in the area, drop by the exhibits and see how I did. If you notice that I don’t have any ribbons, feel free to grumble loudly about the injustice of it all.
In my younger hippie days I entered the Nevada County, CA fair every year - mostly canned goods - and took great pride in my ribbons, saved them for years until I downsized! In fact, for several years I worked at the county fair as an exhibits supervisor in the fresh fruits and vegetable building! I think it is a wonderful community builder, being involved in the county fair. Takes us back to our roots! Great post, thanks for the memories!
I’d love to have any tips you can offer to give my entries a better chance at a ribbon!