This morning I was a judge at the county fair. I judge 4-H Horticulture - fruits, vegetables, flowers and some variations of those. Brian Stahl (Tom's brother) judges the Hort. Ag. portion.
It's great fun for me. 4-H was an important part of my growing up years. It not only gave me an opportunity to learn from my leaders and parents, but, it was a social event for farm kids.
This was a difficult year for the veggies. Those that planted directly in the garden had the same rain problems the farmers had. One girl's flowers were hailed on last evening. It is doubly difficult because our fair is so early.
I remember the year I was in "baking demonstrations". My recipe was an apricot coffee cake. It was good and I kept winning. The sad part for mom and dad was I had to have a baked cake to show as the finished product and I had to bake the one I made - each time. That meant we had an abundance of these cakes. I was never sure if mom froze them, gave them away, or maybe it's better I don't know. They never complained about any of our projects and I think it was as much fun for them as it was for me.
The best was showing calves. Truthfully, dad did most of the work. I did do a lot of brushing, washing and leading. I don't think we bought show calves so ours usually didn't do so well but I never cared one bit. It was the whole experience that I loved. There is never a young Hereford steer that isn't beautiful - my opinion of course.
I had one calf that was crazy wild. Robert (Smith) and dad would pull that calf around with the tractor to try to get it to get used to being led. Then sure as the world he'd toss one of them as soon as he could. I showed him but I'm just sure he was given something to settle him down. That's the only time I was ever scared of my cafe.
It seemed like every year some kid's calf would get scared and get loose. Farm dads would chase them and it was great excitement for the people in the stands. Up until dad came over here with me, I'd go over at fair time and we'd go to the calf judging and sometimes the sale. By then I hardly knew anyone and the standards for judging had changed. But it was just nice for dad and I to keep doing it every year.
Afterwards, we would go to the Lions "tent" and have a hamburger and chat with relatives and old friends. Then off to find an ice cream cone. We'd walk through the farm machinery and merchant's tent and if luck was holding for dad, run into neighbors or family and stop to chat awhile.
Our fair is not as big or as nice as Howard County's. It's not really a 4-H fair at all. The extension agent isn't very ambitious or caring about 4-H and it shows. The focus is the amusements and entertainment. They don't have a sponsor like the Lions and the high standards they uphold in Indiana. I know I was shocked when I came over here to my first fair. I hope Howard County fair goers appreciate all the Lions do for the county and it's children.
Maybe this whole judging at the fair is simply a way to reviving memories but I also enjoy the kids and helping them.
No comments:
Post a Comment