Saturday, September 1, 2012

THE FAIR IS IN TOWN

Saturday, September 1 - It is that time of the year again…The Stark County Fair. This is the 163rd year for the fair. The first Stark County Fair was held in downtown Canton near Public Square and the Courthouse on lots and in buildings owned by the Presbyterian Church and Union School. Livestock was exhibited on church grounds.

This year we went with Marsha's brother, Rick.

Rick

Fair Board changed the entry amount to $8.00 this year. Now we aren't exactly Cheapskates, but $8.00 is a bit much when we won't be riding any of the rides.

With much to see, we started the day at the goat and sheep barn.

goat and sheep

These two little ones were playing the favorite goat game, "Butt the Head."
goat butting

What are these two "old" goats doing with these babies?Rick and Paul with goats

Off to the beef cattle and milking cows.

This guy was too lazy to get up to eat.
cow eating

Marsha thinks the cows are so cute. She asked them to pose with her.
Marsha with cows 


We watched some of the judging activities.
cow judging

Even though the fair took great strides in helping the public keep aware of the Swine flu,

hands clean

DSC00525

we opted to skip the pig barns and just watch some of the pig auction. Boy was it well attended!

pig auction

Of course, there were the llamas, rabbits, ducks, horses, etc..

animals

We then walked through the political area where people running for office were handing out tablets, rulers, buttons, maps, etc. Not being a registered voter in Ohio any longer, we breezed through grabbing a couple free items.

When we hit the “huckster” barn, we notice empty stalls. Where were all the people selling "must haves"? There were still many companies trying to tell us we needed to see the latest in bathroom remodeling, aluminum siding, replacement windows, swimming pools,etc., but we weren't buying today.

Marsha's favorite area is the hobby barn where quilts, knitting, canning, flower arranging, cakes, pies, huge vegetables, photography, and other hobbies are entered for showing. This year the barn didn't disappoint her.

Stark County Fair3 

Ohio's top crops are soy beans and corn.corn sign

hide facts

A cool sand display.
sand display

We noticed that the attendance was way down today. Making our way around the machinery, the trapping & hunting buildings, the 4-H areas, and of course 100's of food wagons was very easy. Amazingly, we were able to skip the sausage sandwiches, onion rings, and soft drinks but not the Fair Fries…YUMMMMMMMMY!

"No, Paul. Not in this lifetime!"
Paul and truck

We always enjoy the tractor-pull contest. We sat several hours and watched all sizes of tractors attempt to win their division.

tractor pulls

It was another wonderful, fun day at the Fair. Thank goodness the rain held off until after we left.

Thanks for stopping by. Hope to see y'all again. Have a great day!

16 comments:

  1. It will cost us $9.00 (Senior Rate) each to go to the State Fair in Washington but what "gets my goat" is Parking is now $10! If it wasn't such a tradition for me, (I've been going since I was in the 3rd grade and I just had my 71st birthday) I only missed a couple of years when I lived in Alaska back in the late 60's) we probably wouldn't go at all.

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  2. The cost of old goats mixing with young goats continues to rise. Nice tour of the fair.

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  3. Has Paul been going since the fair started?

    The " lazy guy" is a lazy gal. Don't you see her pink halter?

    When I go to our state fair I spend most of my time at the various stages watching bands and other performers. We have some talented local folk. And some of the food is actually good for you--like the whole bowl of giant strawberries I usually eat for breakfast at the fair. I haven't been for several years now, though. Maybe next year.

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  4. $8 does seem a little steep; I hope they don't also charge for parking. I'm thinking it was 1982 when we went to our last time we went to a state fair. It was in Puyallup, WA and we still remember the very tasty scones.

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  5. You said $8 sounded a little high since you wouldn't be riding any rides. If that $8 included the rides, that would be a steal. Most of the rides at county or state fairs are almost as much as the admission. Love the fairs though and love looking at all the exhibits.

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  6. Looks like great fun. We love county fairs!

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  8. Nice day at the local fair!! Great pictures, however the cattle you show are dairy cows, where's the beef? Ok, I know I'm picky, picky......Great Blog guys,,,,thanks for the tour...
    Now on to the RODEO!!:-)

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  9. Ain't nothing like a good ole county fair! There are always lotsa animals, crafts & good eats!

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  10. Country Fairs are always interesting and this looks like a great one.

    I sure felt sorry for that girl with the Sash standing up front at the 'Pig Auction'!!

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  11. The fair in Merritt is this weekend but we will miss it - working. However, next Saturday we will be fairing too. $8.00 - ours will be $10.00 Canadian (higher than US right now). And "political area"?? What? How to ruin a fair!

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  12. Interesting that Marsha got the cows to pose with her, but they only gave her the rear end view. Wonder what that means.?? :)

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  13. But I thought you were in the market for a truck to pull a new rig! What a fun day at the county fair. Congratulations to keeping your fair fare to just the FF!

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  14. We really enjoy the tractor pulls. This year, no fairs
    :-(

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  15. Great looking fair. The only good thing about the political booths at fairs are the free stuff. It's the only good deal you're likely to get from a politician! I like the craft booths too. Beautiful llama - NOT - but the old goats are cute!!

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  16. Just love going to the fall fair. Looks like a good one, and I would have been front and cernter for the tractor pull!

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