I almost didn't enter this tiny knitted doll sweater* in this year's county fair. It was a last minute decision and you see by the ribbons it won that it was lucky I entered it. I was very surprised and happy when I saw those ribbons, but I laughed because I'd almost not considered it worthy to bring. Although I try not to take the ribbons very seriously, getting them is still fun. How many you get depends on the competition in that particular department and class and how well the judge likes your item and admires your skill--one year they may love your work and another year not like what you brought. You can only enter items made since the last fair, so the item gets one chance and that's all.
Our county fair happens each August and, although it's a small affair, I like it a lot . One problem though, is that our fairgrounds are not located centrally in our rather large, rural county, but very close to the eastern county line. Therefore, the East County folks find it very easy to get their goods to the fair, while those of us who live elsewhere in the county have to do a lot more driving to get ours there. But those who live farther away from the fairgrounds are trying to work smarter, not harder, to represent OUR locality.
It bothered me, several years ago, seeing that most entries came from that one, close area, so my friends and I have tried to cooperate with each other, with one person taking other peoples' entries out with his/her own on the Saturday or Sunday before the fair, and a different person picking up the items on the next Sunday, at Fair's end. I hasten to add that not all fairs allow this arrangement. If yours doesn't, I recommend that you petition them to allow it, in the name of economic and ecological frugality. If we don't do this, we each have to make the 40 mile round trip to the fairgrounds three times--that's 120 miles, not an insignificant number in terms of pollution or cost of fuel and multiplied by the number of exhibitors not "cooperating" with their friends.
It's exciting to go to the fair and see how the departments are set up this year and what all has been entered. Sometimes it's a little disappointing when you notice that there are not as many entries as there were the year before. To me that means that I just need to talk to more friends about entering and get entry forms to the guilds and groups I belong to by June. That gives people time to finish works in progress, gather up their items, and get them ready to go to the fair. The rest is easy.
I love county fairs, in case you haven't noticed. I grew up next to the Skagit County Fairgrounds and the excitement of the fair spread through our neighborhood every August, as the animals arrived, the carnival rides were set up, and the aromas of the fair's foods lingered in the air. Every night, we would gather on our front lawn to wait for the Fair Royalty to ride past, on their way to the fairgrounds, in convertibles, sitting on the backs of the vehicles, out in the summer air.
To us, it was just plain exciting, even though we didn't get to go to the fair every day it was open. You could go the first day, but then you'd have to endure all remaining days, knowing you'd already gone and wouldn't be going again. Or you could wait until the last day, and have to endure the days preceeding. Either way, it was sheer torture as you could smell the food, hear the sounds, and see, from the kitchen window, the guy on the 100ft sway tower doing his act .
Another little benefit of entering in the fair, especially for children, is that a little money is usually paid for red and blue ribbons won; I think the amount per "point" depends on the fair's receipts that year. My own children waited anxiously for their fair checks to arrive each year, which usually happened a week or two before Hallowe'en. They spent the money several times in their imaginations, and once here, it didn't last long. But it was fun for them, and probably the easiest money they'd ever made.
What's certain about county fairs is that they will be around as long as volunteers volunteer and exhibitors enter. If that ever stops, the fair will stop, too. It takes a village.
* This little sweater is one sized to fit a Hitty doll (slim and 6.5" tall) and is taken from Elizabeth Zimmerman's "Surprise Jacket." I got the pattern from HittyKnittys, a yahoo group for those interested in knitting or crocheting clothing for their Hitty dolls.
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