The Hancock-Henderson Quill, Inc.
You know it is county fair season without looking at the calendar. The temperatures soar above 90 degrees with high humidity. Straw is ready to bale. Third cutting alfalfa is around the corner and all the kids can talk about is reconnecting with 4-H friends from across the county, even if they just “talked” with them on Facebook last night.
County fairs are the country version of a family reunion week. We get big, hot, sticky hugs from people we only see once a year and wish we saw more often. We find ourselves in deep conversations sitting in pop up chairs or on top of show boxes, oblivious to little ones begging for attention or money. Of course a county fair or a family reunion wouldn’t be complete without “guilt-free food”. You know, the food you only get to eat once a year without any guilt! (i.e. cheesy fries, strawberry shakes, cotton candy, mini doughnuts.)
It is the only time of the year that you really don’t go anywhere, but still rack up the miles on the truck and van. I think we put at least 500 miles on the vehicles during county fair week and we only live 20 miles from the fairgrounds! The kids remind their dad that if we had a bigger trailer, we wouldn’t need to make so many trips. He reminds them they could take fewer animals. This is one argument that generally ends in a draw.
The Benton County fair will be a special fair for Katie this year. She turns 16 on show day. She is willing to wait a day to get her driver’s license due to the show, but she wants the serve birthday cake in the barn! She has agreed to let me pick up a big sheet cake in town. I think this could be the easiest birthday party ever. I won’t have to clean the house for guests during fair week and I won’t have the after-party mess to deal with either. This is looking to be a great day!
I think the best part of the county fair is reconnecting with “neighbors” from across the county. Every year Joan and I promise to “do lunch someday”. It sounds so sophisticated and uptown to “do lunch”, but we have discovered that if we don’t pick a date, “someday” never comes. We’ve never been able to “do lunch”, but we do sit around in her kitchen drinking lemonade and that is the best place to be. I guess we won’t be sophisticated, but we’ll have more fun!
Our county fair will be off-a-beat this year. As we look around and see familiar faces, we will be missing one face in the dairy barn. John Scapanski passed away this spring from cancer. John and his family fully embraced the activities of the county fair and the 4-H program. He was in charge of stalling 200 head of dairy cattle into a barn that really only holds 175. He was our go to guy when there were problems with the parlor or fans. His passing has left a hole to fill, but he left behind the tools to continue. He left an example of how one person can make a difference by doing the little things. The older 4-H’ers and young adults have picked up where John left off and are pulling together to make a difference by doing those little things to make a county fair run smoothly.
Why is it a tragedy that seems to bring us back to life and connect with others? We are all so busy with our daily lives that we sometimes forget to live. We have become like old workhorses with blinders on. We only focus on all of the work that is straight ahead. If we wait to get everything done before we stop to visit a friend or go on a trip, we’ll never get there. There will always be work to do, but there won’t always be the time or opportunity to connect with our friends and family. God couldn’t get all of his work done in one day either. It still took him six days to create the world while he rested on the seventh. He didn’t wait for the eighth day to rest either!
Wearing blinders is like eating ice cream. Too much of both can be bad for your health, but a little will go a long way to enjoying a great day. As we gather at the county fairs this week, take time to enjoy being a part of a wonderful neighborhood of friends and family by widening our blinders to take in a bigger view of the world around us.
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As their four children pursue dairy careers off the family farm, Natalie and Mark are starting a new adventure of milking registered Holsteins just because they like good cows on their farm north of Rice, Minnesota.
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