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| working on the perfect Snickerdoodle recipe for my entry |
When I lived in Northern Virginia, I occasionally worked the Fairfax County Fair manning the pro-life table for Virginia Right to Life. Sometimes we were near the table for the gay clinic with their fishbowl filled with free condoms and tubes of lubricant. Being there was a penance; I did not enjoy it. And, of course, we got plenty of flack from pro-abortion fair goers. Now what did they find offensive about the fetal models and the video showing how the baby grows? Plenty of baby haters out there!
Then we moved to the country where the most objectionable thing at the fair was fried pickles.
Our Shenandoah County fair is filled with fun and normal, healthy activities. The four H kids are there showing their animals. I love sitting in the stadium and seeing the cows, sheep, goats, etc. paraded around the ring by young kids. Over at the stage area you can watch duck races and meet a white alligator or a lion cub. Sometimes there are camel rides. And, of course, the most popular place for the kids -- the midway with all kinds of carnival games and rides. We usually get the kids bracelets so they can go on things as much as they want.
I tried my first bison burger at our county fair. If you want to preserve an endangered species, make it marketable! Now I buy bison from a regenerative farm that sells its products online.
This year I'm entering five items in the fair: honey, snickerdoodle cookies, four knitted placemats and a table runner, tomatoes (if they cooperate), sourdough English muffins, and a seashell wreath.
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| What to do with leftover yarn from a baby blanket? Knit placemats and a table runner |
I expect to win a few ribbons -- if not for the excellence of my entries, the fact that there are so many categories that your chances of having little competition in a particular class are high. I've won first place for a houseplant (legitimate win since there were five or six entries), second place for a quilt piece when there were only two entries. It wouldn't have won otherwise. I'm definitely not a quilter!
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| Seashell wreath in progress |
This year I hope to get my county grandkids to enter at least one thing. I may have them all over to paint rocks. One granddaughter has designed some 3D printed things, so I'll suggest she enter one of those. We're going to the Book Fair today, so I'll ask them about participating. It's fun to go and see your items displayed. I could enter one of our chickens, but I think that would be too stressful for the poor thing so they will all stay home and I will award them blue ribbons. If anyone wants to see our blue-ribbon chickens they will have to come visit Camp Kreitzer. Come the last week of August and we'll go to the fair. Maybe there will be a mama pig with a dozen little piglets! And you can join me in eating a bison burger and some wonderful ice cream from the dairy stand. And if that doesn't work, there's harness racing in the fall. There's nothing dull about the country!
Love this !
ReplyDeleteSome of my favorite memories are when me & the kids entered our stuff in the fair in our midwest county. Three of us managed to get the big purple ribbon for best of show. I guess we participated around 20 years. We'd go on the 1st day the fair opened and spent hours looking at all the entries and not just ours. There were years where we'd have over a 100 entries. I'd make notes as to what got a blue ribbon in any category we might be interested in next year. And if we didn't get a blue ribbon in an entered category we'd study it to figure out why for next time. Yeah we were kind of hard core. We loved it. It was a highlight of our summer (end of July)! We convinced a number of our friends to enter, too. It was fun to feel a part of the fair.
ReplyDeleteThen they changed the rules on entries, got rid of whole categories and increased the fees. One of my daughters and I entered that summer. The whole atmosphere of the event was changed. They had pushed the whole thing into half a building where it had taken at least 4 buildings in the past. Hours before the fair ended on Sunday they'd stacked up all the entries to be picked up. So my daughter and I didn't get to see our entries on display. I felt terrible for daughter as it was her 1st year. She'd heard all these fun fair stories from her siblings.
We still have half a wall of fair ribbons on display and my trophies in the kitchen! It was a wonderful experience (until it wasn't).
I grew up entering in the Dixie Classic fair in North Carolina. That was the best.
Thanks for sharing your experience of county fairs. I loved it!
DeleteIf you ever need a guinea pig to help refine your snickerdoodle recipe, feel free to contact me. ;)
ReplyDeleteCome visit Camp Kreitzer. I'll have a high Victorian tea with scones and our bees' honey and an assortment of cookies. My faves are chocolate chip, molasses crinkles, and snickerdoodles.
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