County Fairs

[Bibbyman]

Mary and I like to take in a coupe of county fairs and steam engine shows during the summer.  

Last evening couldn't have worked out better.  I got home from the office and Mary had the last open custom sawing order done and had finished up the day moving the firewood processor and elevator so that area could be cleaned up.  We had had scattered showers and thunderstorms all day in the area but none for us.  But the front had just went through and the temperature had dropped below 80 for the first time in a month.

We jumped in the Buick before someone could show up and headed out to the Montgomery County fair.  We could see the heavy clouds to the east and the radio guy kept telling of storm in the direction we were heading.  Ran into rain just as we got to the HY 19 exit of'n I70.  We made a quick decision to stop for supper at Molly's restaurant there at the intersection.  The food was great.  I had chicken fried stake and Mary had the hot roast beef.  By the time we were done,  the rain had moved out.

Got to the fairgrounds still in plenty of time and got a parking place not 100 feet from the main entrance.  There were not many people there yet. Many would be coming for the truck and tractor pull that didn't start for another couple of hours – same time as the beer garden.

We toured the 4H building – I always enjoy the kid's drawings and photos and Mary give the quilts a discriminating look-see.  Seen a couple of baskets woven around a deer antler.  Something new.
  


We toured the animal exhibits and the new trucks and such until it was time for the National Timber Series competition.  We could see it wasn't going to be like what we've seen on TV.  Only two guys and two gals and not much set up to compete on.

We got our places on the bleachers and others started filing in as they were setting up. Got into a conversation with a guy that had repaired an old circle mill to saw some of his own logs.  Hard way to save money!

They warmed up the crowd by inviting kids to come stand on the log they had in a pool for their log-rolling contest.  All they had to do was stand on the log (one at a time).  The one to stand the longest got a T-shirt.  I think the winner staid on about 3 seconds.



There were only two guys competing and two "Vanna White want-to-be's" doing the announcing.  They were kind of a troupe that went from county fair to county fair putting on this show.  They did a cut from a springboard,  a speed cut,  and the ax throw.  Then they competed in the log-rolling.  They tied a couple of time so it took them five or six tries to get the best out of there.


Sure wish there was more light when I took this picture. Caught them in mid-air.

That was the end of the show.  The tractors were starting to get real loud over on the other side of the fairgrounds and the crowd was pouring in – just in time for use to exit and get home before dark.  

Got home and there was a message from one of our steady customers placing another good size order.  Not long after dark,  the thunderstorms came through and we got a good 1" of rain - first significant rain in a month.

Sometimes things just work out. 8)

[Captain]

Hey Bibbyman,

How Early do the County Fairs start in your area?  It strikes me as early to be in mid-july, as most of them in New England are at Harvest Time (just before or after Labor Day)

Captain

[Bibbyman]

We have bunch of spring festivals but the county fairs start about the end of June and really crank up in July and August.  Our State Fair is in early August.  Then we start having the fall festivals.