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Hi Ho Come to the Fair. It’s that time of year where all over America and I suppose many other parts of the world that the county and state fairs are opening up.
In our little part of the planet we have the Hart County Fair in Munfordville, KY from June 28 until July 6 and in Louisville, KY we have the Kentucky State Fair from August 9 until August 25.
We participate in these events as artists. However, we go to them as viewers of some of the best produce grown, flower arrangements, baking, canning and all the other category entries that make small town America’s citizens participate in.
If you are a gardener, flower or vegetable or a baker and you have never entered a fair then you are really missing out on some great experiences that make up a large portion of Americana culture.
The day that everyone brings their entries in is electrified with a buzz. Here we have all the volunteers for each category or letters of the alphabet for your last name. This is where you patiently stand in line juggling your entries as you peek over to see what your neighbor is bringing in. Is that flower or plant the same as mine? Are those canned peaches looking better than mine? All sorts of things run through your mind.
Our state fair has a policy where the entry forms have to be sent in by a certain date in early July with a nominal entry fee and for us senior citizens it is only $6.00 regardless of how many entries or categories you want to show in. There is no charge for our county fair.
At the state fair once our entry or entries are signed in and we receive a receipt for them we are able to leave and we must come back as a paid visitor to see all the entries which takes at least one whole day or more. Basically it is the same for our county fair. However, since it is smaller we get to walk around and see a lot of the stuff as it is brought in when we bring our art entries in.
The flower arrangements are always amazing because many are highly creative with unusual flower that often contain roadside wild flowers mixed with the garden grown variety. The fresh produce reflects the season of produce available at the time of the fairs. The preserves and home canned goods are usually picture perfect and the bread and butter pickles make one’s mouth water.
Here we get to chat with our neighbors and learn that they are growers of wonderful produce and we get a chance to make arrangements to buy some from them because we learn that they also sell at our local farmer’s market. Or we find out that there is a wonderful new geranium we have never heard about and we discover that we can buy one from the grower and we take their telephone number and address.
We see the coming together of all the people in our area who do some many things with their hands including arts and crafts, quilting, wine making, crocheting, knitting and I could just go on and on.
So, Hi Ho, Come to the Fair and bring your produce, flowers, canning, baking, pies, cakes or whatever it is you do and show off what it is you do. You may or may not win a ribbon, but I guarantee you that you will be pleased you did because this is one of the greatest rural entertainments ongoing.
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Author Bio Box: Arlene Wright Correll
 Resources: Excerpted from Helium Article by Arlene Wright-Correll http://www.helium.com/items/1101518-hi-ho-come-to-the-fair .To see Arlene’s Gardens and to read her gardening diaries and to take a walk through her pictorial garden or click on Arlene’s Books where you can download or buy her gardening & cook books, including her new book, “The ABC’s of Wine and Beer Making”. Many of her articles written for Greenthumbarticles have paintings she has created of the subject and they can be seen at her “How to Do It” site. Remember to check out her artwork, especially of her fruits and vegetables. Arlene says, “All my royalties from the sale of my books go to the St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital and I thank you for visiting my site.”
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