About a year ago, my friend Bev casually mentioned her favorite fair is the Tillamook County Fair – you know, where the fabulous cheese and ice cream are made? When she continued with a description of a completely ridiculous nightly tradition at her favorite fair, I promised myself that I would see it in person this year.
And so, feeling all sorts of disloyalty and like I was cheating on a dear friend, Rob and I whizzed past my beloved Clark County Fair this morning and motored down to the refreshingly breezy Oregon Coast to check out Bev’s favorite fair. Bev was right! The Tillamook Fair was delightful!
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| READY TO FAIR in TILLAMOOK! Please don't hate us, Clark County Fair. We'll be back tomorrow! |
We arrived shortly after lunch, getting slightly delayed as we
headed over the coastal range. A logging truck had spilled its load on the
2-lane mountain highway. Seemed perfectly Pacific Northwest as we inched by.
Starving but not wanting to make a critical fair food error, Rob and I took a quick tour of the food vendors and settled on the most unique offering we could find. The Wiener Wraps were quite tasty (see review below) and gave us just the energy we needed to check out what the Tillamook County Fair had to offer.
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| Far as I could tell, this was the most local and unique food offering. I liked it! |
The fairgrounds are not extensive. In fact, the only map we
could find was an adorable one painted on a wall of the main building. Everyone
seemed to know where everything was. And after about 30 minutes of wandering,
we did, too.
Tillamook had all the classic elements of a county fair: animals, rides, food, quilts, canning, flowers, vegetables, mattress salesmen. Although it seemed small, it also had little nooks and crannies of surprises. Like a horse track with races. And a mobile Library Truck. And the refreshingly peaceful Master Gardener Learning Garden. Although the garden was right up against the main road and parking lot, it was a lovely little oasis of quiet and breeze. If they had had a few chairs or hay bales set up, I definitely would have sat a spell.
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| If I lived in Tillamook, I'd come to the Fair just to hang out here. It was so lovely and peaceful! |
I was chatting with a local at a t-shirt stand (yes, even small county fairs can apparently sell logo t-shirts. I remain mystified why the Clark County Fair does not sell Fair swag. Fellow Fairgoers ask about my swag all the time. There is a market, Fine Fair Folks! Trust me! End of rant. For now.). The local Tillamookian proudly informed me that the Tillamook County Fair has a “very robust” baked goods competition – lots of cakes and cookies and breads entered in contests to be judged and bragged about. I was indeed stunned when I finally found their extensive display of homemade entries.
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| Yup. |
The old-timey, wooden main Fair building housed pretty much all the non-animal stuff. Flowers, quilts, canning, photography, politicians, Scentsy/Tupperware/Cutco. It was busy and buzzing and full of energy. As we walked around looking at the exhibits, I noticed LOTS of impromptu conversations of friends and neighbors. Tillamook is clearly a small town and The Fair is clearly an important annual gathering. It felt friendly and welcoming and like a town square. I LOVED the neighborly vibe!
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| Sitting, eating, chatting...Fairing. |
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| I loved how the green carpet set off the colors of the flowers. It would be so cool to see something similar at our Fair. I also appreciated the benches scattered about. Tillamook likes to sit. I like that about them! |
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| A real quilting bee! It felt like these folks always gather upstairs on Thursday afternoons to work on their quilting projects and today just happened to be the Fair. They were chatting and stitching, seemingly oblivious to the Fair World around them. I loved it! |
I also absolutely adored the main stage outside. It was in a big courtyard surrounded by food vendors and grass and lots of picnic tables. It felt like a cozy living room, where you could have a snack and watch a show. Today’s entertainment included square dancers, a washboard band, a magician, and an ice cream tasting contest. No, not an eating contest…a TASTING contest. Contestants were blindfolded and given samples of various Tillamook Creamery ice cream flavors and had to guess what flavors they were tasting. Not surprisingly, this is a VERY popular daily contest with many volunteers vying to compete.
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| I'm so bummed I didn't get a good photo of the courtyard living room! I guess I was too busy soaking up its ambiance. So instead, here's a photo of me knowing exactly what delicious, locally-made Tillamook ice cream I am eating at the booth inside the main building. Marionberry Pie for the win! (Also please note my t-shirt from the Los Angeles County Fair last year!) |
We wandered into the animal buildings. There was one main building that had cows, turkeys, sheep, and goats…plus two showrings. Another building was dedicated to pigs, with a few more areas for cows and goats and rabbits. I didn’t see any llamas or horses. And honestly, llamas would have seemed out of place. Tillamook stuck more to the Livestock Basics…and did them very well. Given the area’s thriving and internationally known dairy industry, I was not surprised to see lots of beautiful dairy cows lounging about, waiting to be judged.
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| I loved that one show ring was a grassy patch outside. It felt so homey! Plus it was a gorgeous day on the Oregon Coast! Best to be outside as much as possible. |
We watched a few rounds of Meat Goat judging. It was clear the Tillamook folks take their farm animals very seriously – this is definitely an agriculture-based community. We didn’t really like the judge, though. He was super critical and judgey. Which I guess is his job. But he seemed a little more harsh and insulting than was necessary. We’re probably just soft suburbanites…
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| The larger of the two indoor show rings. Meany Judge outside of photo. |
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| I have seen this type of crayon art many times at other fairs, but this is the first time I've seen one in these colors. It struck me how well this represents the Tillamook County Fair. Tillamook is a county of farming and timber. Lots of trees, cows, farms, nature. And in the rain, the scenery looks a lot like these melted crayons. It should have won 1st Place. |
So all of that was quite fun! And then, finally, it was time
for The Main Event! And by that I mean, the Tillamook County Fair’s Pig-n-Ford
Race!!!!
Yes, the Pig-n-Ford Race! Surely you’ve heard of it??
No? Yeah, me neither until Bev told me about it last year.
But once you hear about it, you will never forget! Ready??
About 100 years ago, a local guy was driving through
Tillamook in his Model T Ford when he noticed a nearby farmer’s pig was running
around on the road. The guy decided he should pick up the pig and deliver it
home. So he got out of his car, chased the pig around, retrieved it, and then
realized he needed to crank up his car again. So with a pig under one arm, he
used the other to crank the Model T back to life, quickly hopped back in his
car, and rumbled to the pig’s house.
Later, when regaling his buddies with the harrowing story of
starting and driving his Model T with a pig under his arm, the good ol’ country
boys decided they needed to make a competition out of the story. Which they
did. And then somehow, a couple years later, they managed to convince the Tillamook
County Fair Folks to feature their ridiculous competition at the Fair. It was a
rednecky rousing success and has been a proud feature of Tillamook’s county
fair for the past 98 years. Today, the Model T’s are original, the drivers are
descendants, the pigs are trained and respectfully cared for, and the race is
an absolute hoot and a half! I LOVED IT!
The general rules are: There are 5 drivers at a time. They
take three laps around the horse track in their Model T Ford. They begin the
race outside of their cars. On the starting gun, they run to a pen of pigs.
They grab one pig, place it under an arm, run to their Ford, crank it up to get
it running, and then hop into the car – with their pig – and race around the
dirt track. When they come back to the starting line, they stop their car, rush
their passenger pig to the pig pen, exchange pigs, run back to their Ford,
crank it up again, hop back in, and take their new pig for a joy ride. They
repeat this one more time to complete the race.
Even with the introduction, description, and a few photos, I really had no idea what to expect from a Pig-n-Ford Race. It was very hard to imagine how all those words would come together in reality.
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| Rob is an excellent photo director. |
We saw two races. The winners will come back on the last
night of the Fair for the “World Championships.” It’s very safe to assume this
competition is not being held anywhere else on the planet, so proclaiming a
World Champion is totally legitimate. It’s not clear what the prize is – or that
there even is one. But it IS clear that winning is very important. Something about
legacy, history, tradition, bragging rights, resumes…
The whole thing lasted less than 20 minutes – only about 5
of which was spent watching grown men dart around in the dirt, snuggling
squealing pigs, and nonchalantly speeding off with them in old-timey cars. None
of it made any sense, and yet it was the most perfect rednecky dance I have ever
seen. I truly could have spent all day watching the run-grab-squeal-crank-squeal-hop-squeal-bolt-squeal
sequence. It was a HOOT!!!
I could try to describe this in more detail but, really, you just need to see it for yourself. I recorded the start of the second lap of the first race, because I needed documented proof of this insanity, but I also wanted to watch the rest of it live without my phone in my hand. So, because I love you dear reader, I give you the gift of The Pig-n-Ford Race. You’re welcome!
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| I look at this photo. I took this photo. It still doesn't make any sense. WHAT A HOOT!!!! |
All in all, we adored the Tillamook County Fair. It was
small, sweet, and so very quaint. The people were friendly, unassuming, totally
real, and it felt like a true community of friends and long-timers casually
meeting on a beautiful summer day. I loved how the main building and courtyard infused
a sense of gathering and conversation into the Fair, making it feel homey and
welcoming. And although the food wasn’t amazingly diverse, the offerings were
solid and we enjoyed everything we ate.
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| Tables in the food court had the most beautiful floral centerpieces. Gotta say, I've never seen that in all my fairing! What a homey touch! |
And, of course, the incredibly ridiculous Pig-n-Ford Race. That alone is a reason to go the Tillamook County Fair! And indeed, it was what prompted us to make the 2-hour detour and sneak away from our beloved Clark County Fair for the day. But even without that hoot-and-a-half wackiness, I would have thoroughly enjoyed the day in Tillamook and would have deemed the temporary defection entirely justified. Thank you so much for the tip, Bev! You ROCK!
FAIR FOOD FEAST COLLAGE
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| Clockwise from top left: Lemon Spindrift as we raced by the Clark County Fairgrounds, hoping nobody recognized us Marionberry Pie ice cream! A Pacific Northwest favorite! I was SO excited that the Tillamook Creamery had a booth at the fair. I mean, they HAD to, right?? Caramel apple! Sliced! I have wanted one for days at our fair, but the guy inside the Big Air Conditioned Building hasn't thought to bring a knife and claims his fudge-cutter makes a big mess when trying to slice a caramel apple. I'm a middle-aged woman, so I require my caramel apples to be sliced. Even so, this was still a delicious, sticky mess. California Taco from a Mexican Food booth. Apparently "California" means tomato and sour cream. I thought it meant avocado? In any case, this was very good and much bigger than I thought it would be. Chicken Street Taco from the Mexican booth. The chicken had a great flavor - spiced with maybe cumin? It was so good, I didn't bother eating the tortillas. If they had a brick-and-mortar restaurant, we would go when we're on the coast! But sadly, they don't. We asked. A Lime Strawberry "Lemon Thriller" - a seemingly head-to-head competitor to my beloved Washington Smasher. Similar equipment, similar process, somewhat similar product. I was a bit overwhelmed by the flavor options and combinations (lemon, lime, orange plus strawberry, peach, blue raspberry, sour patch...). I watched the drink being made for the person in front of me. The guy dumped about half a cup of sugar into the drink, so I asked for light sugar. Overall, the drink was fine -- tangy without being too sweet since I caught the guy in time. And it was much better than typical Carnival Lemonade. But it wasn't as nearly as good as a Smasher. Very happy to be heading home to my favorites tomorrow! A Wiener Wrap. Very tasty! It was a beef hot dog inside a delicious, chewy roll that was not quite as sweet as a dinner roll but sort of in that neighborhood. It was billed as a "Pig in a Blanket" and was very good. I would probably have one daily if I were a local. |
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| I was All Things Pig today! Several people stopped me to ask me where I got my earrings. If I lived in Tillamook, I would have a Pig Themed booth and squeal all the way to the bank. |
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