Every year our little local town, a small town with a big heart, hosts a local fair. 
The Fair has been going on for more than 160 years now. The side shows are deliciously gaudy and the food is inedible on the street, but that is what it is all about and there is a whole hall filled with pickles and cakes and breads and vegetables for the judging ( I hope to visit them tomorrow) , but there is a charm and deep local presence that makes this a very special day. 
The people who show their animals with such pride are also nodding with gratitude to a fecund past filled with glory and vigor. There is an iron clad connection straight back through almost 200 years of the very same event. This is where small town America will not give up. It has taken a beating but refuses to lie down and sigh. 
The young people show their animals joyously and are sure of their place in this world, one cannot help but smile and encourage them. 
Even when you do not win at the side shows, it is all good.
It could be worse.
There is a rightness about this summer day. When you can just sit and watch your world go by and be completely at home with it. It must be truly wonderful to live in the town you grew up in. Where you know everyone. To belong.
I hope you have a lovely day.
celi
The Kitchen's Garden 
56 responses to “The Fair”
Reminds me of a country fair I used to visit. It was always great fun to visit and explore!
What a fun trip to the fair – thanks for taking us along with you.
Wish they were all still like that, instead of being about cheap toys that fall apart, nasty food and expensive show bags. I love the preserves, the cakes, the bread, the knitting, crochet, lacemaking, quilting and embroidery. I marvel at the huge prize vegetables, the enormous gerberas, the wilting pansies. That, and the livestock and poultry sections, are what a country fair or show should be about., rather than the noisy rides.
Oh i should have taken a photo for you of the library quilt, they have a raffle with a quilt as a prize every year. It is beautiful this year.. c
The Fair looks like fun! Yes there are some great experiences living in a small town…
Yeah, we used to go to the Agricultural shows waaaayy back. Now they are all Fong Kong and nasty food and sad animals,hot and thirsty in mucky stalls. Avoid them like the plague now. Did you perchance find a cow for the Farmy? Our temps that were warming up have dipped into single digits again this weekend – seems like winter is not ready to move on yet. Laura
I did chat to a man who might know a man.. I will follow it up. c
Oh I know what you mean. Our Fiestas in Spain are different but with the same heart…very special.
Wow, that last picture brought me right back to the local carnival of over fifty years ago in my small town in NY where everyone knew everyone else. Good times 🙂
Delightful posting and reminder of where the heart and soul of many lies.
Ha when I first read this I thought it said “heart and soul and many flies” still apt I guess!
Love county fairs but I missed ours this year. State fair in Iowa an Minnesota are big deals and we real like to go to them. So many things to see and do !!! Thanks for the great experience today!
I don’t normally go all political on blogs but these are the people I wish the government would align themselves with, not the Mosantos of the world. They should come to the fairs and see the people, the stories, the history, and the hard work that happens every day. Because without these people we are sunk.
I could not agree more. The animals are beautiful and their stalls lovely and clean. Many people have the view that all farmers do not treat their animals well, but the care taken here proves otherwise.. it would be a good lesson for the lobby that is trying to destroy the little farmers of rural america.. c
Ah, but lobbyists are not interested in lessons…..only money and power. Disgusting, isn’t it?
If only they wouldn’t be so blind to it.
Our county fair, the one I grew up showing at, won’t even allow a carnival. It is about the 4-Hers and their projects. Very family-oriented. Luckily, I know many of the families. NOSTALGIA!
Yes, our little rides do add colour, but the real fair is under the shade where the animals are..that is where the people gather.. c
I remember going to the fair near our small town in the Central Valley of California and having a lot of fun .
in The UK there are lots of agricultural fairs where people bring animals and produce and there is always the entertainemnet of the Merry-go -round which is my favourite with the painted horses, the mirrors, the lights and most of all the hurdy-gurdy music..it brings back wonderful childhood memories of candy floss and sticky things……I am pleased that you had a good day, relax once in a while
in my younger,prediabetic days, a group of us used to get together,at the food booths in our tiny, doddridge county,wv county fair.we would order 1 of everything, cut it up and everyone got a bite.we tryed almost everything, we called it”eating our way thru the fair.”did it for years.
most memorable, but not repeted thing was the dill pickle sno cone,my favorite is the italian sausage with peppers and onions.greesy, but good.
now the county fair has grown, too commercial, too crowded. no local orginizations selling home made pies and icecream ,so i dont go anymore
should clarify, italian sausage sandwich, not italian sausage sno cone.
i really should proofread, and capitilize letters, but that would involve useing 2 fingers on keyboard
I was sitting here puzzling over the italian sausage snow cone when you write part two, How adventurous your food sounded i thought!.. great idea and great memories too i am sure, meant to answer your query the other day. The Old Codger is great, he is having a wonderful weekend sitting on the seat outside the bank catching up with other great old people. He love the fair and eats his way around each church stand for the whole weekend.. the young mother took all her children and shifted to phoenix..
c
thank you,i was wondering how he is.
So so sweet…you’ve said two things that strike me hard. One is about children showing their animals and knowing their place in the world. The second, related, has to do with being in a town where you grew up. I often wonder what that feels like…I used to sort of think it would be boring to have “stayed”…but I didn’t realize what I realize now about deep roots and what it’s like not to have them. I’m more like a dandelion seed…
same, international rolling dandelion seeds.. there is probably a law against dandelion seeds being taken across international borders you know!.. c