Roxanne Rustand here…posting late because I am up in Wisconsin, helping out my daughter-in-law and granddaughter. It’s county fair time!
I love county fairs. The excited kids lined up for rides on the midway. The super-serious, dedicated kids, who have been preparing for months to show their calves, or hogs, or chickens, or rabbits. The corn dogs (the dietitian part of me cringes, but I still can’t pass up having one every summer), and mini donuts, and all of the other goodies. And the crafts buildings–there, I could linger for an hour, just taking in the beautiful quilts and painstaking perfection of the other needlework projects.
Fairtime brings a lot of memories, too. A 4-H member from the age of nine until I was eighteen, the county fair horse show and all of the projects to prepare became an annual full-time job. Dozens and dozens of batches of cupcakes would fill our counter top, during my search for three perfect (and perfectly matched) cupcakes. Who knew there could be so much variation in a single batch?! But through it all, I gained so much beyond just the ribbons and the fun. Any child who is dedicated to doing a good job at this definitely develops a stronger work ethic, than he or she might have if just having fun at the pool all summer!
Today, here in Wisconsin, is the day the pet guinea pigs are to arrive for judging Needless to say, Sargeant Steve, an Abyssinian, has a lot riding on his furry shoulders, and his ten-year-old owner is excited about his big day. Sorry about the lack of photos, here, to brighten up this post. I cannot figure out how to move them from my camera into my iPad.
So what about you…what are your favorite childhood memories of the wonderful, endless summers of your youth?
Wishing you all the best,
Roxanne
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Cindy is an RT Career Achievement Award finalist and Last Man Standing is an RT Reviewers Choice Award finalist. Roxanne won 2012 Reviewers Choice Award for her Love Inspired Suspense, Murder at Granite Falls.May
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I LOVED our county fair, Rox. Cotton candy and carnival rides. I loved the ferris wheel back then. Now you couldn’t get me on one if you paid me. And I loved the horse barns. Still love the smell of horses.
We just got back to my son’s house after being at the fair tonight. Yep, being there brought back a lot of happy memories. But even watching some of those rides makes me dizzy!
Ah county fairs…. those were the days that I enjoyed so much. We showed cattle and I did a few Veterinary Science projects. I could name every one of the calves that I showed that is how memorable those times were for me. We were only allowed one day out in the carnival and only when my aunt took us. But even now I try to make it to one or two county fairs just for the fair food and to walk through the barns. Thanks for the walk down memory lane today.
My favorite memory is the first ferris wheel ride of the summer with my younger sister and our Dad. We had a beautiful view of the beach when we got to the top.
In August each year we have our CNE which stands for Canadian National Exhibition. It was a wonderful fair to attend each year the last two weeks of August, but it alway signaled that it was almost time to go back to school. But we had the midway, the games of chance. My mother hated when we brought home all those stuffed animals. There many exhibits to see and The Horse Palace, and we all loved The Food Building were there was lots of samples given out.. They don’t do that anymore. But when we were kids, many moons ago, we would get free Neilsons chocolate bars, Double Bubble bubble gum and and many other products.. There were Ice Cream Waffles and candy corn, and all the great food on the midway… I don’t do anymore, have not been for many years now.. Just not my thing anymore.. But I know that lots of kids still desend upon it each year…Oh and lets not forget allt hose great midway rides…
Though it doesn’t hold much appeal now, I used to love going to the Dane County fair when we were kids, all the way up through high school. Though I liked some of the rides, and the mini donuts and fried cheese curds, I also liked walking through the various barns and exhibits. It’s too bad they were rained out on opening night this year, and hopefully it won’t be too hot the rest of the week.
Mostly, though, my summer days were filled with reading–and activity one cn enjoy whether indoors or out.