2018 FAIR – Day 10

Wow, the last day of my beloved Fair. Already. And yet it also feels like two years ago that I wore jeans on Opening Day. Time absolutely flies when you are having a blast. And drags like a Shave Ice line on a 95 degree day when you are exhausted.

The last day of Fair is always the definition of bittersweet. On the one hand, I am desperately sad to have my escape from reality come to an end. On the other hand, my body is ready to return to a more civilized sleep schedule and wouldn’t mind some fiber and protein.

We didn’t have any plans for day other than staying until closing so I could pick up my canned entries and that white ribbon photograph. Most people will pick up their entries tomorrow, but it is far too heartbreaking for me to see my Fair being completely dismantled. Watching animals and magicians and vendors leave for good today was hard enough.

We saw Adam at PDX once and chatted with him.
We have felt like buds ever since.  He may not
remember our names but he always remembers
our faces.  Love that!

I can quit any time. Really.
In past years, I was all about the tryouts for the Equestrian Fair Court which are held on the last day of the Fair. It was always a long but terribly exciting day of stalking and evaluating and taking notes.

Last year a personal friend I have known for years was the Queen. It was the pinnacle of my Fair Court Stalking Experience since I got to actually peek a bit behind the purple curtain.

At the end of Queen Maddie’s reign last year, I realized that short of being on the Fair Court myself (my hair isn’t long enough and I don’t know how to ride a horse), there would be no better year of Fair Court stalking than my Year with Maddie. And so I retired my zoom lens and decided to let all future Courts fluff their hair in peace.

Nevertheless, today I thought it would be fun to watch the interviews and fashion show, which are typically held in the afternoon (old habits die hard). It took far too much work to find out that portion of the competition had been shifted earlier and we had missed it. Boo.

Although I was disappointed, I was more bewildered that the Fair Court competition is not advertised, is not listed on the daily FanFair schedule, and that even the women in the Information Booth belied their title and had in fact no information about it (“They don’t tell us about that. It’s a big secret for some reason.”)

Rob and I were finally directed to the main administration offices where we were given a copy of the 2019 Fair Court Tryouts program – a copy that had to be made while we waited since they didn’t have any prepared to hand out.

Oddly, the program included the words “Public Welcome” three times, yet the public had no way of knowing it was happening. It was open to the public but seemingly the public wasn’t actually invited.

I honestly just don’t get it. The Fair People In Charge are missing an enormous opportunity to engage their public -- their customers -- in the process that selects the three young women who are charged with representing our beloved Fair throughout the year. The Court is always out and about, making appearances, being in parades. Why keep them at such a distance? Why not let their public get to know them and get invested in them? Why not actually invite us to their party?

Unless the Fair People In Charge are fearful that if the public gets too involved, the Fair Court might end up with some stalkers, benevolent though they may be.

Ooops.



No birds were handled or harmed in the competition
Another thing that could have been much better advertised is a competition called Round Robin. It is held for Large Animals and Small Animals. Today was the Large Animal competition.

To participate in Round Robin, a 4-H kid has to have won either first or second place for showing their animal. For Large Animals, that means llamas, goats, sheep, pigs, dairy cows, and beef cows.

All the top winning kids have just a couple of days to learn from each other how to show all the other animals. Then today, they travel around the fairgrounds to the various animal show rings and compete against each other in showing each animal other than the species they are expert in.

Basically, the idea is if you are a good showman, you can show any animal. The Round Robin’s aim is to ferret out who the absolute best showmen are, period. Sadly, ferrets are not among the animals that are shown at our Fair. Dang it.

Rob and I have often been interested in watching this competition, but it was always a bit chaotic with small groups of kids simultaneously running around from show ring to show ring on a schedule that was anyone’s guess. This year they changed the format and made Round Robin MUCH more user-friendly for spectators.  THANK YOU, Fair People in Charge!!

Since Rob and I knew one of the top scoring showmen for llamas, we were excited to get to the Fairgrounds in time this morning to watch Allara try her hand at showing a pig, a goat, and a lamb (we sadly missed the cow rounds). And yes, I know Allara is technically a show-woman, but I have never heard the term used in 4-H circles so I’m just using their lingo, antiquated though it may be.

The pig competition was hysterical. Pigs are huge and strong and stubborn. They pretty much go wherever they want. They also occasionally get ornery with other pigs in the ring, leading to pig fights. Adults with thick plastic panels (called Pig Boards) stand at the ready in the show ring to separate pigs who start trying to rumble.

Meanwhile, the 4-H kids are handed a long, flimsy stick that looks like an antenna. They are instructed to use it to control the obstinate swine. Someone told them they can do that by tapping the sides of the pig repeatedly. I remain unconvinced.

So imagine a bunch of 4-H kids with long sticks, tromping around the show ring chasing wayward swine, tapping the pigs with antennas with the illusion that somehow the magical sticks will control the 300lb ham-toddler.

We couldn’t really tell how well Allara did, other than she smiled and tapped very well. Her pig also didn’t try to kill anything, so we assume she won that round.

Tap tap tappity tap tap

The goat showmanship competition was much more precise. The 4-Hers had to set their animal’s feet just so and they had to make sure their goat was always between them and the judge. They lead the goats around the ring while the judge gave them instructions to see how well these kids who knew nothing about goats could present them to the judge.

Allara had an adorable pygmy goat who was soooooo tired. The little guy could barely keep his eyes open (totally my spirit animal for the day). Allara kept petting his head to keep him awake, and made sure the lead chain was taught to keep the goat’s head up. In a twisted way, because I am punchy with exhaustion, the entire situation sort of reminded me of the movie “Weekend At Bernie’s.”

Poor little guy is all Faired out

The sheep judge was intense. He purposely gave very complicated instructions to see how well the kids could follow along. Once the 4-Hers had their sheep all lined up, the judge went down the line and purposely irritated each lamb with a slight squeeze on the rump. He watched closely to see how well each kid handled an annoyed animal. An animal they knew nothing about mere days before.

At one point, a lamb that was not in the competition got loose and ran around the show ring, firing up all the showsheep into a frenzy. The kids had to try to keep control of their lambs while the rogue one was being wrangled. The sheep judge was just sneaky enough, I wouldn’t be surprised if that loose lamb was entirely on purpose.

Notice the open mouths on the sheep.
They had a lot to say about being
handled by kids who don't usually
handle sheep.

Finally, all the competitions were over. All six animals, both for older kids (Seniors; ages 14-19) and younger kids (Intermediate; ages 11-13). A total of 25 4-Hers had competed. Four winners were announced – first and second place for both the Seniors and the Intermediates.

And then this happened.

One of those glorious photography moments
of hitting the button at just the right time.
A shoe in for a White Ribbon next year!

After only three years in 4-H, and with no experience in those three years with large animals other than llamas and alpacas, the Amazing Allara won Grand Champion Showman for the Intermediates!!

Her mom cried, her dad beamed, her younger brother was a great sport, all my llama friends cheered…and Allara had the biggest smile on her face the rest of the day. Well-earned and totally deserved.  CONGRATULATIONS, ALLARA!!!

SO DANG HAPPY!
Allara is, too.

There’s no crying in the Llama Greenway…unless it’s the last day of Fair.
Rob and I were on our evening rounds, wandering around the Fairgrounds, watching the Fair slowly come to a close. The first tear fell around 7:00 this evening.

We walked into the Llama Greenway to find it almost completely dismantled. There were only three penned animals left; everybody else was gone. I stood there looking at the brown emptiness and tried to hear the llama hums and kid laughter and loudspeaker announcements and competition cheering that had filled the area for ten glorious days.

And then I spotted Allara and her mom. They had a garment bag for Allara’s show ring uniform and a tote bag now toting a large Grand Champion Round Robin trophy and a whole bunch of ribbons.

Rob and I congratulated Allara. We told her how impressed we were by all her hard work and long hours. We commended her for all the sacrifices she had made to accomplish her goals. I thanked her for being such a spectacular part of my Fair, for doing things I wish I had thought to do when I was a kid. Through her, I get to experience a little bit of 4-H life. I told her that even though I couldn’t claim her as my kid, I was so extraordinarily proud of her.

And then Allara got to watch two grown women cry with shared pride and gratitude in the Llama Greenway.

I sort of hope she slept with the trophy tonight.
Or at least the ribbon.  It looks less pokey.

Like I needed another reason to be sentimental
With a sudden inspiration (is there any other kind?), I decided I wanted an onion bloom as a snack (see Fair Food Feast Parade). There’s really only one booth to get them so we bellied up to the DeMolay counter for the first time all Fair.

And I was surprised and so very happy to see my friend Rick and his son working the booth.

Apparently, Rick had been working throughout the Fair but we clearly had never seen him. During a lull, he took a break and sat with Rob and me as we munched on the Fair treat Rick likely never needs to see one of again in his life.

We caught up on lives, chatting about work and vacations and what it’s like to work in a food booth at the Fair (long hours, chaotic, exhausting, but also a great way to bond with a young teen son).

After we said good-bye, I realized Rick is my longest friendship. We met as 8-year-olds as third graders in a suburb of San Francisco. We rode bikes together, played in the street together, learned how to play card games together. We went to high school together but had different circles of friends. Nevertheless, we signed each other’s Senior Year yearbooks.

We reconnected later as adults, me struggling not to call him Ricky anymore. He and his wife moved to my county several years ago in search of a new career and a new environment in which to raise their son.

Tonight, it was such a gift of life and intersecting circumstances to sit in the Food Court of my beloved Fair and catch up with a friend of over 40 years.

I really need to remember to pack along Kleenexes on Day 10.

Despite the heat and exhaustion, I suspect working
the DeMolay booth together at the Fair will be a favorite
memory for both of them in the years to come.

DAILY STATS:

Number of miles walked: 4.1 miles, which included walking around Walmart on our way home to pick up provisions…like bananas and naproxen, both of which will be eagerly consumed tomorrow.

Re-entry hand stamp: The adorable dancing pig again, just like on Day 1. But this time, unlike the Giraffe Horse, the repeat is absolutely perfect.

Earrings: Green breath mints! After nine days of eating my way through the Fair, these seemed the obvious choice.

Random freebie: Four packets of yeast! Rob scored these in the Canning Department while I was over in the Photography Department retrieving my award-winning photo (hey, last place is still an award, right?). I’m assuming I’m supposed to make bread or something with them. I’m hoping for homemade beer instead.

Number of friends we said hi to: A 2018 Fair high of a whopping 35! I am surrounded by people in my life who also find joy in Fairing. So grateful. And so sappy!

Time crawled into bed: 3:41am.  The latest bed time of the Fair. Sometimes it's hard to write through tears.


FAIR FOOD FEAST PARADE:

The Final Parade of 2018. Traditionally, my stomach and appetite seem to know the party is ending and start checking out on the Fair Food thing on the last day. Not this year! For whatever reason, my stomach was all in all day to the very end. YAY!

Finishing up my Tangerine La Croix in the Fairgrounds
parking pasture.

Corn dog from Hog Daddy's.  That batter
sure is good.

My final Smasher.  This was the Strawberry Peach Pear
blend.  A great way to say Fairwell to Stan.  And thanks for
all the refills, Eric and Dakota!

Finally got yesterday's mac n cheese with bacon
from Big E's BBQ.  It was exactly what I wanted.
Mmmmm.

Yesterday I said I would be sharing my caramel corn with
friends.  Here I am, sharing it with Holly.

Rojo wanted to get in on the caramel corn action, too.
He sincerely liked the stuff more than I did so I left
the bag for him to share with his buddies. Or devour
all on his own, either way.

Chocolate vanilla swirl soft serve ice cream from the
Dairy Women's Barn.  In real life, I never have that
much ice cream as a serving.

Rob and I shared this onion bloom from the DeMolay booth.
It's a Walla Walla onion that is sliced into little pieces and
then fried with tempura batter.  It was very good and we
managed to finish the whole thing.

But about 15 minutes later, I needed some
fresh air and two Tums.  And the look on
my face is more exhaustion than nausea,
which fortunately passed.  The nausea I mean.
The exhaustion, well... I'm pretty much
a pygmy goat at the moment.

Final Fair Food Feast Parade Treat of 2018
Rob and I shared a bag of a dozen donuts from the
new donut truck.  They were one of my favorite finds
of the year, best enjoyed at night when the air cools down.
I happily came home tonight sprinkled in powdered sugar.
I LOVE THE FAIR!!!