The Hancock-Henderson Quill, Inc.
8-5-2014 Column
How can it be county fair week? It just doesn’t seem possible that summer is almost over and school will be starting in less than a month! County fair week is a big event in our family. It is our version of a family vacation. You travel hundreds of miles. You sleep in a different bed every night. You get to go out to eat every day. You laugh and talk with new and old friends over endless rounds of cards. But most of all you get to make memories together to last a lifetime.
I wish I had flipped the trip odometer in all the vehicles at the start of county fair week when we were at the peak of our family’s 4-H involvement. I am curious how many miles we put on the van and truck those six days. When all four of the kids were showing along with a couple of lease animals, we made at least five round trips between home and the fairgrounds with livestock, general 4-H exhibits and open show entries. We didn’t just have to get the cattle there safely, but we had to make sure the tallest corn stalk didn’t bend or break, the cake didn’t slide across the plate and the woodworking project didn’t get scratched. Maybe I should clarify…instead of we, I mean me. None of the kids had their licenses yet and I became very familiar with the 22.3 miles between the farm and the fairgrounds gate. Needless to say, that year was the motivation to getting a bigger trailer. Now with just one 4-H’er, the big trailer is still saving us miles and gas money. Austin was able to load up the gooseneck with all of his showing supplies, feed and animals in one trip. There was even room for the neighbor boy to come along.
This is Austin’s first fair by himself. Everyone else has graduated from 4-H and are busy with their summer internships to be of much help. They have juggled their schedules to be there for show day, but there is still quite a bit of work to be done before the white shirts and white show pants come out of the closet. Austin realizes what it takes to get ready and cleverly convinced a neighbor boy to hang out at the fair with him for the next couple of days to help with the cattle. I don’t know what incentives he bribed Nick with to help, but they took off with the truck and trailer excited for their adventure and freedom.
I’m assuming Austin and Nick will be sleeping at the fairgrounds. It is a rite of passage to finally be old enough and responsible enough to be allowed to sleep at the fair. My first question of the day when I pull in is “where did you sleep?” The answers have ranged with the kids. Some pull out the sleeping bag and sleep under the stars in the bed of the pickup truck. Some bust a bale of fresh straw in an open stall and sleep in the barn. Still others will call it a night and drive over to their aunt’s house in town to sleep in a real bed with air conditioning for a few hours before they have to hit the wash racks in the morning. Aunt Marie had a high learning curve about the dedication of the morning routine. She was prepared to make a big breakfast and let the kids sleep in a little bit. When the kids woke up and realized the time, they grabbed a piece of toast and with a quick thank you were out the door to start another day at the fair. There wasn’t time for a big breakfast, they had to get the cattle out to the wash rack otherwise they would be caught in traffic jam waiting for a spot to open up in the racks.
The wash rack is where many favorite memories originate for most 4-H’ers. First off there is the “dress code”. For some reason, Austin came up with the idea to wear Hawaiian shirts to the wash rack. He went to Savers and picked up several colorful shirts to wear. Some other kids will wear shorts and tall rubber boots with their shirts. The tall rubber boots aren’t necessarily used to keep your feet dry, but they are the perfect accessory for the outfit. I guess he uses it as an ice breaker to start a conversation with the beef kids. I can’t begin to count the number of people he has met in the wash rack.
The wash rack is also a slower version of social media. Our county fair wash racks are located between the show arena and the hog/sheep barn. Everyone walking through the barns will walk right past the wash rack. Katie has volunteered to wash out the toplines for Austin this year. She always takes several hours to wash out the toplines because she has to talk to everyone walking by. Who needs snap chat? How about splash chat?
Of course it wouldn’t be a county fair with at least one water balloon fight spilling out of the wash racks to the rest of the fair grounds. One year some kids brought in a sling shot and launched water balloons over the barns. The kids had a blast. The fair board members were not as amused. When the kids run out of balloons, then they just start grabbing kids and sitting them in the stock tanks to cool off.
I grew up with many of the same adventures at my county fair. I’ve watched my children grow up and have fun at our county fair. I was asking Mark, “what’s going to happen when the kids are all done with 4-H and showing at the fair? Will we still want to go?” You betcha! I don’t want to miss the fair and a chance to catch up with old friends and neighbors. To eat mini doughnuts and a chocolate/caramel shake at the ADA malt wagon. There are way too many memories pulling us back each year. Just like a family vacation cabin bringing everyone home for a week in the summer to relax and have fun!
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As their 4 children pursue dairy careers off the farm, Natalie and Mark are starting a new adventure of milking registered Holsteins just because they like good cows on their Minnesota farm. (Natalie grew up in Stronghurst, the daughter of Becky and the late Larry Dowell.)
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