We haven’t had an Ag Fair up here in years, because we don’t have any Ag around here anymore. Closest thing is a small “working farm” owned by the county parks department that kids go to see on school field trips. (I’m not knocking it - it’s really cool, but it really is pretty much the only Ag thing in the county.)
So, this weekend we headed for the Shenandoah County Fair, about 80 miles west of here. It’s an area that still has a fairly substantial farming population, and the younger generation is definitely involved. The schools have active Future Farmers of America chapters, the 4H exhibit stalls are filled, there are signs made with pride thanking the buyers of their entries. Kids around here know that that hamburger meat didn’t start and end at the grocery store.
Picked up a cookbook from the Ladies Auxillary of the Star Tannery Fire Department. Between the fact that the first recipe I saw was for my favvvvvv hashbrown casserole, and the second was for fried rattlesnake, I couldn’t pass it up. I doubt that I will find the words “Low-Fat” anywhere in it, which suits me fine.
The exhibits. Great livestock, mainly cattle and sheep, and some hogs. One very upset baby cow who had been taken out of the stall and tethered up at the bath area. She wasn’t particularly interested in getting a bath. :) Still trying to figure out if the ‘coats’ they were putting on over the sheep were to keep them from getting dirty until they were shown, or if they had just sheared them and maybe they don’t adjust immediately to the temp differences?
The poultry hall is always a good place. You never realize how many different kinds of chickens are out there until you see them all in one place. And so pretty, too! Three entries for chicks - the tiny kids were oohing and aahing like crazy. “Mom, they’re so little!!” Great entries for bunnies, too. I always think that were the Eve’l Dog to walk in the chicken & bunny room, she’d just have a stroke right then and there.
About 60 entries for flowers. Gorgeous. Food. Ohmigod, the food. Easily 30+ plus for canning and probably another 50 for cakes/cookies/pies/yummy things. A whole hall filled with veggies and such. First prize pumpkin was spectacular.
Had tractor pulls as well. Very neat to watch. Didn’t go for the grandstand tix, just watched bits & pieces from the rails.
It’s a fascinating place to peoplewatch. These are men and women whose livelihood is at the whim of mother nature. These are faces that have seen years of very hard work, and have lifetimes of stories.
