Johnson County Fair

Our county fair is in full swing and although my daughter is not showing this year, it has been fun to go see the projects, watch some of the livestock shows, and enjoying the chocolate milkshakes from the Farm Bureau building as well as the delicious foods that many of the vendors have. I absolutely love the fair!

Things that I have noticed is that the number of kids involved seems to be down as well as the number of projects and animals that are there. It is sad as I have always enjoyed the fair and once we became involved in 4 H certainly looked forward to it each year.

I am going to try to share much of the week with you. I have taken some photos and I have enjoyed sharing some of the ones that my friends have shared as well.

This sign sits at one of the entrances to the fairgrounds. The fairgrounds is a beautiful area even when the fair is not going on.

Livestock is a big part of the fair. 4H kids spend a lot of time with the animals and I have seen tears when auction night comes. Pigs, Cattle, Sheep, Goats, Rabbits, Chickens, and Horses are all shown during the week.

There is a lot of work that goes into the fair, but there is plenty of fun to be had as well. This was taken last night during a celebrity goat milking contest. There were  a couple of local news reporters that we involved in this competition. Elizabeth Choi, a reporter from WISH TV Channel 8, was the winner as she was able to get 2 pounds of milk into a bucket in the allotted time. She is on the far right in this photo. You can also see members of the fair queen court in this photo.

The Farmer's Olympics is a favorite event of the week. This was during the three legged race or sack race, whichever you happen to call it. The gentleman in the blue shirt in this photo is the fair board Vice President. I personally know him as he attended high school at the same time I did. He and his partner done quite well in their race, but was unable to win the entire race competition.

The two young men are sons of my dear friend and are going to each be 10 year 4Her's when they are finished with their time in the clubs. They show pigs along with a few other projects, but were happy to take part in the Farmer's Olympics. They were the winners of each set of their races. I believe they could be called the Sack Race Champs.

Another part of the Farmer's Olympics is the wheelbarrow race. In this particular version, you literally have two people and one sits in the wheel barrow while the other pushes to the opposite end of the barn. Once they are there, they change places and race back to the starting line. A lot of laughs and a lot of fun had by all.

Tonight and tomorrow night, the grandstands will erupt with a lot of loud cars and many wrecks as the demolition derby drivers will hit the ground. Each year this is one of the largest drawing crowds to be found at the fairgrounds. I know a few of the drivers and they take this quite serious. The competition is fierce and they look forward to taking home the money! It truly is fun to watch if you never have!

This is the 4H logo. Do you know what the 4 H's stand for? Head, heart, hands, health. Ask any 4H'er what the pledge is and I am sure that they can say it without thinking. It is something that they normally do at all meetings and something that they know is important.

Of course, you can't have a fair without rides. This was taken on kids day and is just a sampling of what kids can do at the fair. This is a Thomas train. The company that runs these rides is known as Poor Jack Amusements and this year is their 50th year of providing rides to this fair.

I will leave you with this beautiful photo that was taken by a friend of the ferris wheel. It is an absolutely delightful photo as far as I am concerned.

If you have a local, county fair, please take a few hours out of your day to visit and let the 4H kids know that their work is not in vain.