The County Fair

Hair feathers!

I’ve always been a sucker for the fair. I don’t remember a time when we weren’t involved in the County Fair. My grandma was a judge, but that didn’t help us win more blue ribbons. She was completely honest in her reviews and more than once I came home with the red or white. We participated through the 4H program as kids and I learned how to cook, care for kids, and sew…probably a few others too that I don’t remember at the moment.

Sewing was the one I enjoyed the most, although my mom said that I liked to push the pedal way too fast. She was our fearless leader and an amazing seamstress. The only problem was that she was so busy we usually ended up finishing our entries the week of the fair. When I was about 12, I was working on a cowl-neck striped knit sweater…(give me a break, it was the seventies!). It was late and I was tired, but the entry was due before noon the following day. Mom was hanging around, folding laundry or something, just in case I needed help. I was hunched over the sewing machine, pushing the pedal way too fast.

I finally finished setting in the second sleeve and I pulled out the scissors so that I could trim the seam allowances. This was not a good idea at 1:30 in the morning. Halfway through the second sleeve, I slashed a big gash in the sleeve itself. I was devastated! Mom hurried over to assess the damage. This was the last step on the shirt and I had totally spoiled it. Then the tears started. Mom took one look at me and sent me off to bed. Clearly I was in no position to begin unpicking.

When I awoke the following morning, something magical had happened. The shirt was complete and perfect! Had I dreamed the gash? Mom just smiled and we piled in the car to turn in my entry. I suppose I should have felt a little guilty when I received that blue ribbon, but the sleeve I put it looked good enough for blue too. I don’t have any pics from that era, but I do have some fun ones we took today at our own County Fair.

 We enjoyed the vendors’ booths and the kids won some little goodies…stuffed animals, candy, water bottles, pencils… We only bought one thing, and I just couldn’t resist the cute little grandma and grandpa giving the demonstration. It was called the Quilter’s Tacker. The grandpa had actually invented this little device that sets the tacks into the frames and then a different tool that pulled them back out. My grandma would have loved this product! At twenty bucks, the price was a little steep, but they were so nice… Teach spoiled all the girls by buying them hair feathers and the boys loved the Army booth and its video games. Gamer even got an alignment for his back that was supposed to help him feel better, but he doesn't look that happy to me.

We also participated in the Read and Ride program. All the kids between the ages of 5 and 15 did a little reading and then wrote reports on them to earn us some free ride passes to share. The little kids loved the motorcycles, but the big kids (including my sweetie) were all pretty dizzy when they climbed off the Tornado. The Dog Walker even headed to the dumpster and we worried that he was going to heave, but unlike last time, he managed to pull it together. We didn’t get to see the animals since the Drama Queen had to go to work, but since the fair comes back every year, I'm sure I'll be standing in line again next year.