When I first moved to the country, county fairs were important events. Actually, I remember going to the fairs in southern California when I was young.
Off to Pasadena
Late August was the time for the California State Fair in Pasadena. Later it became the Los Angeles County Fair. It meant a long ride over the hills to spend the day wandering around.
This was a big event with lots of big barns filled with horticultural exhibits, machinery, livestock, vendor booths. The goat barn was a favorite stop.
Rural County Fairs
My small town in northwest Arkansas had a fair in August. It wasn’t a big affair, but did have barns for poultry, cattle and pigs. The fair book included goats and sheep, but no one brought any.
I had a 4-H goat project. We wanted to bring goats to the fair. So I got permission and set up half of the hog barn for the goats.
We borrowed a pair of pigmy goats for the few days. One had her kids and was the hit of the fair.
We had five breeds of dairy goats there. And a goat breeder came to judge a small show for us.
“Mistaken Promises”
Because of my past associations with county fairs and my local area in Missouri still held them, one fit into my novel as Hazel could show off her Buff Orpington pullets. It also was a good place for the final showdown in the novel.
Times have changed. The main participants in my area are the 4-H and FFA members now. Livestock now centers around cattle, hogs and meat goats.
My memories of county fairs make me wish people still loved participating in them. It seems people are too busy now to enjoy such simple things, especially ones that take months of preparation with only ribbons to show for their efforts.
