Step Right Up, It's Fair Time: Why My Little Home Fair Is Great

I decide to start sharing my thoughts on our Ohio county fairs (read why here) and I think I should start with what is normally my first fair to go to each year. The first Saturday after the fourth of July, when it is normally hot and rainy lots of 4-Hers and FFA members are in London, Ohio moving into the Madison County fair to start a week of fair shows and judging. I am normally there on that Saturday evening helping taking livestock photos during check-ins. I don’t live in Madison county any more, but it still fills like home to me and I still like helping out when I can, taking part in open class sometimes and even if I can’t help out I still have to be there at some point in time each year.

Not very many people would describe the Madison County Fair as great and overall it isn't. I am sad to say that, but if it wasn't my “home” fair I wouldn't pay $7 to get in, because there is not much there aside from the Jr. Fair (I will talk more on my thoughts of fair prices at another time). No we don’t have the largest amount of livestock in the state, but I think we have a good amount and the fact that all of what is there is Jr. Fair projects makes it even better. What do I mean by that… they don’t “Fill” their barns with open class animals staying all week to make it look like the fair has lots of animal projects.  A co-worker this year went to the Madison County fair for the first time and said to me “There are very few animals there, disappointed.” I thought really, wow I thought the animal numbers looked up this year and way more than when I was in 4-H, I mean we have a chick barn now, but then I thought you wouldn't know that if you hadn't been there before and keep in mind it is just Jr. Fair livestock, not open class too. Yes, they have open classes, but those animals don’t stay in the barn all week unless they are Jr. Fair too (something that frustrates me about my now home fair, but will talk more on that when I write about that fair).

Showman of Showman banners - picture from fair facebook

Now you know it cost too much to get in, there isn’t much there, but they have a good Jr. Fair program and Jr. Fair livestock participation… so why is it great? Because they don’t have Grand Champion Animals for the Jr. Fair market shows! Yep, lots of livestock friends just read that and gasped in disbelief and others thought “good for them”.  Instead they have “Showman of Showman” awards for the top showman in each livestock group and then an overall Grand Showman of Showman. To me this is how it should be, yes the animal still has to meet certain criteria and still has to be a good show animal, but what is more important in a Jr. Fair show is how the youth did and what they know! Not if they can afford to buy the top breading stock of animals! Now for all of you that are shaking your heads in disbelief they do have some awards for the animals, the beef have a “steer of the day” and the open class lamb and hog show have champion jr. exhibitor and the breeding classes have champions. But if you go to the Madison county fair that isn’t what is most talked about or praised, the top Showman is the big award and deal. Growing up around this I hadn’t given it much thought, until I moved out of the county and had some people not from Madison county tell me they thought it was great that they don’t have Grand Champion animals, then I thought you are right it is great. Now that I go to many different fairs I see it for myself and hear the talk about the grand champion winners, I am proud of Madison County!

What else is good about the Madison county fair, they are trying to make it better.

My mom in 4-H in front of the old Quonset barn

New show arena

A long time staple at the Madison county fair were the Quonset barns for the larger livestock and arena… being in those tin cans in July heat with all the animals was horrible. A few years ago they took down one section of the Quonset barns and put up a new cattle barn, very nice, but I do miss having all the 4-H special interest projects on display together (not the club booths). Than this year they took down the Quonset arena and other end of that building and built a new one. They also announced they are going to finally build a new hog barn, much more open and airy then the Quonset barn, they are currently raising funds to do this and I can’t wait to see it happen.  Also if you like to watch a truck or tractor pull they put on some good ones at the fair (but you do have to pay extra for them). For course there is fair food too, some of my favorites are Cappy’s pizza, I think just because I ate so much of it at fair as a 4-Her, now days I like to get a hamburger from Sheila’s stand and I am sure others have their favorite foods they could tell about.

I have a family history at the Madison County fair, so it will always be important and special to me and a part of my life, even if I don’t live there anymore.

My grandpa Dorn in 4-H in front of the grandstands

My grandparents at the Madison Co Fair, one of my fav. photos

Step Right Up It's Fair Time: Where My Love of Fairs Started

I have been thinking about writing blogs on my love for county fairs and experiences with them. I have been to about 25 of Ohio’s county fairs so far and almost never miss the State Fair. I like to share my thoughts on the fairs I have been to with people, so why not write about it. Over time I am going to write blogs about the fairs I have been to and what I like or dislike about them and just a general personal over view. But, first I wanted to give some background of where my love of fairs comes from and how I started going to all these fairs.

I would say my love of fairs comes from my dad; my dad loves fairs because he has a history with them. He grew up on the fair circuit, my dad’s parents at times worked for Gooding Amusements out of Columbus, Ohio.

My Grandpa Parker on a ride he worked on.

Yes they where what you would today call a carny, but I don’t at all picture them as “carnies”, just hard working people trying to take care of their big family (my dad is the youngest of 12). Because of this I grow up hear stories from dad about the fairs, most of the stories where about the people he grew up around at the fairs, the Side Show Performers. Now days I hardly see side show tents at fairs and when I do they are fake stuff or just performers, not like the true oddities they were back then. My dad has told me all about people like Little Pete Moore, Emmitt and Priscilla the Alligator Man and Monkey Lady, Johann the Giant and many more. He would also tell me about rides and venders, when I was a kid he would almost always take us to the local county fair and the State Fair. He would take me on his favorite rides and share tricks with me, like how to make the Tit-a-Whirl spin faster or that you can turn yourself upside down on the Gravitron when it is going. Also as kid every year at the Madison County Fair dad would stop to visit with the man that owned the cane ring toss game and he always gave us kids one of the colorful canes, then dad would get me cotton candy because he knew the lady that rain that trailer too and would visit with her. Even today I never know when I might hear a new story from my dad about the fair.

Picture from Ohio State Fair's Facebook Page

A few years ago I showed him an old Ohio State Fair picture they posted on Facebook with a caption about how many Ferris Wheels there was in the picture, there was four. Dad said, “Yes Gooding always set up four Ferris Wheels at the state fair, three regular sized ones and one giant or double wheel. And by the afternoon of each day at the fair all four wheels would have a long line.” I learned something new that day.

As I got older my love of fairs changed, today I almost never ride a ride at a fair, so I can’t tell you who has the best rides or prices on rides. Mostly just not interested and don’t want to pay the prices to ride them. When I was of age I got involved in 4-H and by high school it was the most important activity to me that I was involved in, because of that I was always trying to do more with it. I was a Jr. Fair Board Member, County Camp Counselor, attended three state 4-H camps and one National, was a State 4-H Ambassador, worked at the state fair and later a state 4-H camp counselor. Through all of that (and probably more) I made lots of 4-H friends all over the state and that is how it started, me going to different county fairs. I would say it was about my junior year of high school I started driving where ever in the state to a county fair to see a friend I had made, normally dragging along a friend that didn’t have the love of 4-H I did, but went along for the fun of it. As an adult this has continued, but now days it is to see a farm bureau friends and their county fair. I also get to go to some county fairs for my work to take pictures of our involvement in the local fairs.  The past few years I have averaged going to about 13 county fairs a summer and try to get to one or two new ones each year.

There you have it, how I fell in love with going to county faisr… check back, in the future and I will tell you my favorite and lest favorite Ohio fairs and things at them.