Time for the County Fair!

Ahhh the end of summer signals harvest, autumn weather and most of all... the FAIR!   Yes, it is time for the Calumet County Fair.

We live in a small community, and our town is the site of the county fair.  This year it lasted four days, because of the Labor Day holiday.  We decided to go on Sunday evening and see the exhibits, the animals, the music and got some food! We paid our $6 entry fee to the local boy scout troop who were directing traffic and pointing out the parking spots.

The local businesses sponsor the doings,

and we sure appreciate their contribution.

There are rides for young and old... and the sights, smells, sounds and thrills of the fair brings back fond memories of the Iron County Fair we used to attend up in Iron River, MI.  This community is about the same size and puts on about the same amount of rides, exhibits, features and fun.

We didnt go on any rides, but enjoyed seeing the faces of 

the people getting on with expectation and 

off at the end with exhilaration. 

What I enjoy most is walking among the livestock,
poulty and small animals exhibits. 

This young lady named Katy was very proud of her beef cow,
 complete with pink halter!

It is nice to see the local businesses who buy their 4H project animals
and see how the kids thank the business on their signs overhead.
This one was purchased by Reinl Accounting, a local firm.

This guy gave us *the look* as we passed by....

We petted bunnies,
oinked at the pigs,
 scratched noses on some goats,
 and patted some freshly shorn sheep.
I chatted with some of the horses,
and ran into a fellow Wisconsin Sheltie Rescue Member too!

We enjoy walking among the 4H barns and exhibits of their group projects and the cultural arts.  I even knew this young man pictured in one display!  Imagine that, we have lived here long enough to start recognizing names and faces of the younger members of the community. The special young man is Cole, and he is a two time cancer survivor and quite a responsible young man.  He and his family take care of our house when we travel, and he has a special spot in his heart for our dogs. 

These silly girls were helping in the display areas of the exhibitor buildings,
and were all posing for a photo while trying to sit on ONE chair.
Giggles and squeals of delight from the younger set.

Our Calumet County Historical Society put up a booth
on display of valuable antique items from the museum

This area of the Open Exhibits featured a catagory I had never seen in a fair before.
It was *Antiques* where you could enter items for prizes!

Imagine my surprise to see the same old cook book
just like the one I got from my mother is in there.
Yup Mom, we are *Antiques* I guess!

I have a lot of these things in my own home, oh my!

 Someone here even entered their school diploma and class picture!
It was from a small one room schoolhouse in the 1950s.

After we were done going through the entries,
we went on over to the Commercial buildings to see what was being
hawked and haggled over.

In the middle of the building, they had a collection of neat old snowmobiles! My very first snowmobile ride was on one like this....  our neighbors down in Cedarburg, WI in about 1969 had one and gave us kids all a ride around the alfalfa field between our homes. 

We ran into some friends, and also some folks from the Friends of High Cliff State Park group.  We chatted with a fellow DNR ranger that Steve knows, and also the local police officer who said things were quiet and all was going good. People were behaving themselves and his patrol was just routine through the fair grounds with a few other officers on duty. 

I would imagine their highest crimes to watch out for were underage drinkers trying to sneak a beer from an of-age buddy.  LOL 

Up next was the FOOD!
We had one stop to make:

These two courteous young men allowed me to snap a pic
as they were shaking on the mounds of powdered sugar onto our funnel cake

Ahhhh this is in memory of Kenny, a funnel cake maker extraordinaire

who has gone to the big funnel cake making trailer in the sky..... 

Steve and I shared our funnel cake between us,
while sitting on a bench and listening to the music.
A local fun band called Vic Ferrari was playing
---standing room only in the pavillion---

A few sips of the local brewery creation
Rolands Calumet Brewing Company 
which is located just two blocks from our house.

We enjoyed the flavor, fun  and friendliness of the fair....  and as dusk was falling, so were our eyelids.  Going on home with satisfied smiles on our faces as another county fair wraps up for the year.