County fair memories are many

By Fran Blank: Are you going to the fair? You can bet we'll be there. We try to block out fair week on the calendar and not schedule anything.

We treat the Lorain County Fair as a mini-vacation. We're lucky to live a few minutes from the back entrance of the fair and take every opportunity to experience all it has to offer.

Faint fair memories go back to my childhood. I remember riding in the back seat of my father's black Oldsmobile beside my brother and sister and getting excited as the towering brick smokestack north of Wellington finally appeared. That smokestack was evidence that we were almost there.

I remember driving under the arched "Lorain County Fairgrounds" sign and bumping across a grassy field to park. I remember my senses filling with unknown but intriguing food smells and animal sounds. Oh sweet anticipation!

Much later in life, 4-H brought our family to the fair again and again. Chosen projects included a chicken, a guinea pig, a parakeet (who by the way, lived until daughter Allison was a sophomore in college!), rocketry, a telescope built as a woodworking project, small engines, and too many others to remember.

Our children were given the chance to stretch themselves in new ways and grow in their self confidence. We still have pictures of Grandma watching presentations of rockets and that darned parakeet. What wonderful memories to keep.

For two and a half years our daughter was in the Peace Corps in Benin, West Africa. She craved any touch of home we could send.

Greg took a tape recorder to the fair and recorded sounds and voices. His tape included hellos from the staff at the Lorain Medina Rural Electric building because Allison had spent a summer working with them.

He also recorded the music and voice of a bagpipe player, an interview with a grunting pig, the jingling and clip clop of horses passing, the sounds of the midway, and best wishes from anyone we happened upon.

Unfortunately, the precious tape was sent to Allison's friends in Chillicothe to be rerecorded onto a tape that matched the equipment she used in Africa and was somehow "lost in transit." I like to think she will meet these friends somewhere, someday, and the tape will reappear. I would love to hear it.

A hand-in-hand stroll through the fair seems to make long lost friends magically appear. We always cross paths with old neighbors or colleagues, long lost relatives, and even old college friends. Lately, Greg and I look at each other and say "Wow, they look older. We don't look that old do we?"

One special encounter at the fair began with what seemed to be an innocent question "Ever seen a white bat?" We took it as an invitation to see a rare creature. A white bat, wow!

We were led over to a bee-hive looking box about three feet high. The size of the box and the location of the only opening meant that in order to view this wonder one had to bend waaaaay over and look up into the box. Okay, we're game. We could sense a few quiet snickers as we bent low and peered up.

What we saw were small, white, baseball bats hanging from the inside top of the box. What we heard were loud snickers and louder laughs. Ha Ha Ha. You guys think you are sooo funny. Of course we couldn't wait to find Nick and Allison and drag them through the entire fair to see the rare white bats. Ha Ha Ha!

Greg's main interest in the fair is to enter his dahlias into competition. He carefully pinches and stakes his plants to help them grow the best blooms. The day of judging, blooms are cut, conditioned, and groomed. The flowers are carefully packed into specially prepared five gallon buckets, and loaded, along with vases, wedges, and other necessary tools, into the trunk of our car.

We always park near Gate 5 to unload and than ferry everything over to Building 25, the Craft, Photography and Flower Building. The morning is spent bumping elbows with other gardeners arranging, grooming, and perfecting entries in anticipation of judging. We follow the judge as she slowly makes her way down the line of flowers and bestows first, second, and third place ribbons. The most coveted prize is Best of Show.

Greg pays particular attention to Dahlia entries by his good friend Mike. Mike is president of the Dahlia Society of Ohio and is a true expert.

These two old friends share a friendly competition for blue ribbons. Mike usually walks away with the bulk of blue but we always tell him "Just wait till next year!"

Are you going to the fair? For the price of an entry ticket you can be a part of one of the best county fairs in the state.

Go and just walk around the entire fair. Let yourself be drawn into whatever strikes you as interesting.

Check out the poultry barn, feast on an elephant ear or devour a gyro, meet friends at Sterks for breakfast, take your city friends to the combine derby (we did - what fun!), watch the harness racing, climb into the grandstand and take in an evening of musical entertainment. Don't forget to pick up a dozen donuts from the Wellington band booth on your way home.

Open your senses and hear the sounds, smell the smells, and taste the tastes. Make your own fair memories. Our miraculous Lorain County Fair, like Brigadoon, will evaporate too soon. Just go!

And one more thing, if you're in the right place at the right time and get an invitation to see the white bats, go for it.