You’re either a fair person or you’re not. I can’t think of a better way to spend a Saturday than strolling through poultry and rabbit exhibits, feeding miniature goats at the petting zoo, cheering on a tiny cowboy try to ride an oversized sheep without falling off, and then heading to a food stand to get my fill of corn dogs and funnel cakes. It’s something Mike will never understand, even though he’s given it a good try in our quarter century together.
I didn’t make it to a local fair until I was in junior high marching band. After the parade, they set us loose for a few hours to enjoy the Minnesota State Fair before the long bus ride home. We were still wearing our sweaty wool uniform pants on a hot August day, but my friends and I ran through as many exhibits as we could, devouring the sights as well as the food we found along the way. We hustled through the cow and sheep barn, discovered chickens come in many different sizes and colors, ogled the largest boar exhibit, admired the giant pumpkins in the Horticulture building, watched the chainsaw carving contest, and ran around the tractors and combines on Machinery Hill. We packed away deep-fried cheese curds, corn dogs, butter-dipped roasted corn on the cob and, for dessert, split a bucket of chocolate chip cookies washed down by all-you-can-drink milk from the Dairy Barn station. Luckily, we didn’t have time to go on any of the carnival rides — I don’t think our stomachs would have survived it.
A few years later, my parents realized they were missing out on a pretty good time, and they became fair fans too. We’d meet at the park-and-ride each year, hop on the bus and spend a solid eight hours dragging each other around to our favorite parts of the Minnesota State Fair until our sore feet told us it was time to head home.
Though it’s been more than 40 years since my first visit, most of my favorite things are still there: the animal barns, the Creative Arts, 4-H and Horticulture buildings, deep-fried foods of all kinds shoved onto a stick, and the feeling of walking around with 200,000 other people who love cheese curds and looking at baby calves being born just as much as you do.
When we moved to Arizona, I was excited to see the Arizona State Fair lasted an entire month. I told Mike that my birthday wish was to spend the weekend in Phoenix and check out the fair as part of my big day. Maybe I caught it on a bad weekend, but it was not the same. Sure, there were carnival rides and deep-fried foods on sticks, but the creative arts building was sparse and the only animals I saw that day were a cranky horse and a motley assortment of petting zoo animals. We took a spin on the Ferris wheel for a night view of Phoenix and then left feeling disappointed.
The Yavapai County Fair is here in Prescott this weekend. County fairs are the small but mighty cousins of the state fair. These are our neighbors and friends showcasing their creative talents and raising prize-winning livestock. The last time I attended, I walked past the rabbit cages and discovered my coworker had a hobby I didn’t know about.
I’ll probably let Mike off the hook this weekend while I get my fill of the fair. Maybe I’ll bring home a couple of corn dogs and we can sit on the back porch in the fall sunshine and wonder out loud about how you get to be one of the baked goods judges or what unique talents we have that might be worthy of the fair, maybe a giant pumpkin or a lavender cookie recipe. There’s always next year!