A Fair Summer

How many of you made it to a fair this summer? Elephant ears, cotton candy, caramel apples, commercial exhibits, rides, fauna and flora, art, stitchery and much more await the fairgoer. I love to go the fair!

I attended the Thurston County Fair, the Southwest Washington Fair and soon will attend the Puyallup Fair in Puyallup, Washington this year (pronounced "pew-al-up") - maybe by the time you read this. Be sure to get to Puyallup to see it before it's over. It's a doozie of a fair.

The smallest fair I attended was the Thurston County Fair, but I also enjoyed it the most. Because I have allergies to animals I can not always be around them much. This year I was able to enjoy the cow judging in an open area away from the critters' homes while they are stabled there. They are such beautiful, calm animals. I ate my fair hot dog (cooked by a Missouri Republican, no less) while I watched the judging! It was even sunny! We haven't had much of that this year.

Another pleasure at the fair was talking with folks from the Capitol Woodcarvers Association (from Olympia, Washington) exhibit. (They don't have a website yet, so I may volunteer to do one.) Great people. Carving usually entails patience; most projects take a while. My Dad carves, so I am always interested in looking at wood carvings and talking to the folks who carve them. They are storytellers, too, usually. (My uncle has carved beautiful caricatures and hummingbirds, and has some great stories to tell that go with his carvings.) I was at the fair booth for 30 minutes and enjoyed every minute of it.

Carver Helen Cureton did some wonderful relief carvings and her husband, Gordon, showed me a figure carving he did out of cypress wood. It's considered a junk wood in Florida, but Gordon says it is great for carvers. Jim Monk was also carving a figure. It was wonderful to watch. Carvers really have it together!

Helen was working on a relief carving duplicating a figure she bought at a garage sale; she also garnered a national award with one of her works. She hasn't been at it that long. She decided I need to bring my Dad to their meetings, even though I am not a woodcarver. She said I could be their "writer!" What great hospitality. Because there were not as many people as at a larger fair, I could visit them all I wanted.

Go To Page: 1 2 3