We arrived after church in time for a late lunch. By about 3:00 we were dragging our sweaty selves around from dogs jumping in water to goats learning how to walk through kiddie pools. Clearly all the livestock had the right idea. Despite four lingering tours of The Big Air Conditioned Building, we eventually decided to call it an early night (8:30) since we still have lots of Fairing ahead of us.
That said…just a reminder: Rob and I are taking a little breather for the next two days. We will be Fairing again on Wednesday, August 7. I will be posting pix of our adventures and some surprises on Instagram @its_the_fair during the day on Wednesday, with more details posted here in the wee hours on Thursday, August 8.
Devastatingly, it wasn’t her
Regular readers of Woodhaven Ramblings know that I have a slight (some might call it freakish) fascination with Tonya Harding. She is our most proximate celebrity, living maybe 20 minutes from Woodhaven.
Although I’ve never met the infamous figure skater myself, I have seen her in local stores and from my car windows. I might have been totally distracted at a local festival recently when I spotted her vehicle parked nearby (yes, I know what she drives), spending most of the celebration scanning the crowd for a boppy blonde ponytail. Really, it’s not as creepy as it sounds. Ok, maybe it is.
ANYway.
Today we had lunch at my favorite Fairgrounds Burger Stand. They have some dedicated tables set up in the shade, within feet of the kitchen and cash register. We were settled in at one of the tables and Rob was busy taking the first few photos of me digging into my Ms. Burger (see Fair Food Feast Parade below). I was daintily noshing along when I heard the gal at the counter call out the name for the next order that was ready for pick up.
“Tonya?”
I honestly didn’t know my head could swivel so fast without causing neck spasms. Sadly, a woman with red curly hair and at least 50 extra pounds than my Tonya picked up the cheeseburger and fries. BOO!!!!!
1) Enjoying my burger
2) Ears like a mom with a newborn
3) IS IT HER???
Cancer was not in the rule book
After our near brush with infamy, Rob and I headed into the Big Air Conditioned Building to take a look at the Arts and Crafts. It wasn’t long before we spotted our friend, Linda. I had actually seen her moments prior in the Women’s restroom but didn’t recognize her. It still took a few beats to realize she was the woman with the big smile and wispy hair behind the walker heading our way.
We hadn’t seen Linda since a Christmas party last December. Rob sees her husband monthly so we had been in the loop with her sudden bout with cancer three months ago. Cancer that has yet to be defined and is confounding doctors in several states.
Linda is in charge of one of the competition departments in the Big Air Conditioned Building, volunteering on a whim to head things up over 20 years ago. Linda invests a lot of her time and self into efficiently running her department and wasn’t about to let a cancer diagnosis change that this year.
Rob and I chatted with Linda for over an hour, talking cancer and doctors but also Legos and wood crafts. It didn’t take long for us to realize that although Linda may have a new chemo hobby, she is still spunky and opinionated and direct and dedicated. I like Linda. She is my people and a kindred spirit of Fair Fandom. I am grateful we had the time and space and air conditioning to relax and reconnect.
Linda is also quite the persuasive saleswoman. Before we knew it, Rob and I were volunteering to take shifts next year to hang out at the Crafts Table and answer crafty questions. Foreshadowing of hysterical, bloggable disasters to come in Fair Fun 2020!
Never say never
If you are following along on Instagram, you saw that Rob and I helped judge the entries for the Fair’s home winemaking competition last week. It is so very not a rigorous competition. The qualifications for being a wine judge are pretty straightforward: 1) You show up; and 2) You are willing to drink weird wine.
Rob has been making not-weird-wine as a hobby for almost 20 years. He has actually gotten really good at it. I am a very lucky girl.
Years ago, Rob entered his wine in our Fair Competition. He became disillusioned when, as a joke, he entered a terrible wine he helped a neighbor make from mystery grapevines in his yard. The wine was the color of cotton candy and was watery and bitter.
That pink swill won a blue ribbon because it was pretty and had an adorable label proclaiming it as Hot Tub Wine (yes, I was the marketing genius behind that one. Oops.). Rob’s more serious entries with much less cartoony labels got low scores because they were deemed “too oaky.” The only oak in the vicinity of those wines was an old bookcase we have in the barn for winemaking supplies. So unless bookcases are a novel way to impart flavors in wine...
After entering a fantastic homemade Zinfandel in the Washington State Wine Competition and being awarded a Honkin' Blue Ribbon by trained judges who know the difference between a Cabernet and a Chevrolet, Rob’s confidence was rightly restored. He vowed never to enter his wines in our Fair’s overly relaxed and underly experienced wine competition again. I couldn’t really blame him.
So imagine my surprise a few weeks ago when Rob casually dropped, “I think I’ll enter some of my wines this year.” He explained he felt like his ego could handle it this time. Plus, he has a fabulous dessert peach wine that finally does not burn nose hairs when sniffing it (it took a few years in the bottle for all the alcohol to settle down).
Dessert wines always win at our Fair. Mostly because the judges typically think wines like Sauvignon Blanc and Pinot Noir are too fancy-pants. And because dessert wines are always judged last and none of the judges slurp and spit out the wines they judge. By the time the dessert wines are being evaluated, the judging room is always quite lively, with stories being shared and lifelong (at least until the next day) friendships being made.
Rob figured his sweet peach wine would do very well and decided to enter his Riesling and a red blend (Syrah and Grenache) just for giggles.
Aaaaaaandd….nothing went according to plan.
Rob’s Riesling – made from grapes in our front yard – got a blue ribbon! It is not a sweet wine; it tastes more like a schmancy, grassy Sauvignon Blanc, largely because we can never get the grapes ripe enough before we have to pick them (darn rainy season). We’re still amazed Rob’s Riesling scored well despite not being sweet or featuring blackberries.
The Rhône blend was probably confusing. Even though it has a cute black cat on the label, it also has a weird hat on top of the “o” in Rhône making it look all fancy and très internationale. But the wine tastes really good. So I'm guessing it got a red ribbon for foreign complexity.
And then there’s the peach wine. The sweet dessert wine that was supposed to win Rob top honors. It scored rather poorly – 60th out of 70 wines. Ouch. Rob and I obviously did not judge our own wine, but we also did not announce that any of the wines entered in the competition were ours. So it was pretty easy for me to sidle up to the happy table of judges at the end of the the night to ask them about the peach wine they still had sitting on their table.
“Oh, it was too hot. Just really warm.”
“You mean like it needed to be chilled?”
“No, too much alcohol. See, it says ‘warm’ right here on the tag.”
And sure enough, “Warm!” was inexplicably written in pencil on Rob’s entry tag. No other tag was marked like that…that night or any other night I have been a wine judge the past 10+ years.
I poured myself a sample and nope, no hair-curling alcohol detectable. Their assessment was very confusing.
And then, a couple conversations later with Rob and the guy running the competition, all was revealed.
When Rob dropped off the wine, he told the guy not to refrigerate it because we have found that cold temps dulls the flavors in that wine. So, to remind himself not to put the bottle in the fridge with all of the other dessert entries, the guy in charge wrote “Warm!” on the tag. The judges took that notation to suggest the wine was warm with too much alcohol. It was obviously written on the tag as a warning to them that then became their reality…and Rob’s white ribbon.
Cheers to the power of suggestion!
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| We have two names for our wine. Woodhaven is for the Riesling wine Rob makes from the grapes in our front yard. Chateau du Chat Noir is for wine Rob makes from grapes he buys from other people. Because we're just that fancy. And like clip art. |
Mickey’s scorecard so far
It’s been three days and almost 13 miles of strolling around the Fairgrounds so I’m thinking now is a fair time to comment on the few changes I have noticed since the New Guy (Mickey) took over being the Fair Guy In Charge.
On the positive side, there is some new paint on exterior buildings and lots of new bark dust and flowers. There is landscaping in places I didn’t know could be pretty! I am loving all the flowers and shrubs and little touches that make the Fairgrounds look cared for. Thanks, Mickey!
I am also liking the additional bands that are playing in the Grandstands before the headliners. I don’t know who they are or if they will be there the rest of the Fair, but it has been nice to have generically upbeat music playing to help get the energy and anticipation going for the nightly concerts.
Although Rob and I didn’t partake in any of the new pricing packages or cost savings booklets, I also love that new pricing ideas are being tested. It gives me hope that maybe…someday…finally…the Fair People In Charge will offer an All Fair Pass with in-and-out parking privileges. Pleeeeeease, Mickey???
On the negative side, the biggest change I have noticed so far is a lot more open spaces in the exhibition barns. I thought things looked sparse last year. Sadly, this year I am seeing bare concrete in places I never noticed had concrete because they were covered with tables, chairs, displays, information…you know, Fair Stuff. Spots that have always been ripe with content are now conspicuously barren.
I was also disappointed to discover an entire side of the Big Air Conditioned Building that historically had all sorts of things to play on (rock walls, bumper boats, motorized animal scooters) is totally empty except for a gleaming new horse trailer and a table for the Fair Court to hand out autographed photos between gigs.
All the emptiness feels like exhibitors bailed at the last minute or rents were raised too high or somehow things just fell through the cracks. But, it’s only Mickey’s first year…with lots left to learn. And more Fair yet to happen. So I will remain optimistic that more positive changes are to come.
STATS:
Distance walked: 8,050 steps or 3.3 miles. This is MUCH more typical (my Fair average is 3.2 miles). The heat definitely slowed us down today, with lots of time spent sitting on benches in the Big Air Conditioned Building.
Number of friends we saw along the way: 23…the majority of which wisely appeared after about 7:00pm when things started to cool off. We have smart friends. Too bad I can’t say the same about them.
Re-entry stamp: A little sheep curled up on the top of my right wrist. The stamping lady said she had named it Wooly. I had a number of things to say about that and wisely said none of them.
Earrings: Corn dogs!
Best Freebie: The nice C-Tran company (the folks that run the public bus system in the county) handed out some spiffy, battery-operated fans. I was super excited to try one out while envying dogs who were jumping into a huge vat of water. Sadly, the fan wasn’t quite powerful enough to make 94 degree air feel cool. Nevertheless, I am a 51-year-old woman. I know I will find a use for that little handheld fan soon enough.
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| It was a little too much fun to test the soft fan blades by flicking them on my ears. I think the heat made me a little punchy. |
FAIR FOOD FEAST PARADE:
Oh, the heat! When I get warm, my appetite wanes. Food just doesn’t sound good. Sugar makes me nauseous. All I want is salad and water. That’s during normal life. During Fair Season, this is what happens:
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| Decided to try a Peach Pear Mango blend. It was very good! I think it's the Mango that adds the extra tang. |
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| The only hamburger I eat at The Fair. The Ms. Burger from the Burger Buggy. It is a juicy meat patty with a few pieces of deli sliced ham on top. Ham on a hamburger! Inspired AND brilliant! And so very good. |
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| Ice cream sounded like a good idea, so I got this vanilla bar dipped in both chocolate and cherry sauces. It tasted a little like a cherry Tootsie Pop. It was very good but it melted super fast. For the first time in years, I actually wore some of my Feast Parade on my shirt for the rest of the day. I blame the sun. |
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| This melted quickly, too, so I didn't waste much time inhaling it. The classic Cherry and Lime shave ice blend...with the fabulous Tajin spices I discovered last year. I LOVE the crunchy lime and pepper flavor on the cold and sweet ice! Go ahead and think I'm crazy...until you try it yourself! Mmmmm!! |
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| A little white cheddar kettle corn to peruse photos with. I love this stuff. I'm enjoying every kernel since in real life, I only eat air popped corn with olive oil and flavored salt. |
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| Dinner! Mac n Cheese with a whole lot of bacon from Big E's. I remembered this was really good last year. Tonight, it was sort of disappointing. For all that cheese and pig and fat, there wasn't a whole lot of flavor. I was tempted to go find some sriracha to zip it up, but I was near a fan and didn't want to move. I didn't end up finishing this. |
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| I decided to help Rob with his Philly Cheese Steak Fries. They were more flavorful than my mac n cheese, even if the cheese was just nacho cheese sauce. I liked the meat and the crunchy onions. The curly fries were a bit inconsistent -- some were crunchy, some weren't. All in all, I'd try it again before trying the mac n cheese again. |
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| Not the dessert I was planning on. But I did have two flavors -- a cherry one and a lemon one. I blame the sun. And probably the mac n cheese with a cheese steak curly fry chaser. |
1 comment:
I was sad to read the problems with the fair this year. And it is exactly what I was afraid of. The problem is the less revenue they bring in, the less programming they can afford for next year.
As for vendors, they need to lower their price and offer incentives for vendors based on number of years they have been loyal to the fair. I'd also entice unique food choices to the fair to bring in a new crop of fair-goer. As for the lack of livestock, It would be awesome to have a "senior" competition. Long time farmers who want to show they've still got it. Anything to keep the barns full. However, as the county becomes more urban, the more the fair will have to make changes to stay relevant.
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