Fun times, funnier comments at the Fairfield County Fair

Early October was a busy time for the Sharp family. Our county fair, the last in the state, finally came, and we spent a lot of time from Oct. 8-15 at the Fairfield County Fairgrounds.

It was the culmination of a busy summer of working with fair animals, and in terms of the two market steers, nearly a year of effort. My wife, Becky, and I have three kids in 4-H, and between them, they had the two steers, six dairy heifers, a dairy feeder and a pygmy goat at the fair. While the animals themselves didn’t include any champions, the kids did quite well in showmanship, and now have several trophies, ribbons and a banner to show for it.

On top of that, my daughter Sara, 7, decided she needed something to do too and chose the Guys and Gals Sheep Lead as her contest. While she has a little work to do before she qualifies as the next top model, she did enjoy leading her borrowed sheep around the ring, which is the main thing.

But beyond the many family memories from the fair, there were two comments I overheard from passers-by in the dairy barn that stick out vividly in my mind, so I thought I’d share.

The first was a little boy walking through the aisle of dairy animals who looked over at my niece Katerina’s show cow and said emphatically to his parents, “That has to be the biggest cow in the whoooooole world!”

The second classic comment occurred when another little boy noticed the No. 35 ear tag in the ear of one of our dairy heifers. He made this comment to his grandmother: “Look Grandma, that one’s only 35 cents!”

With the 2011 fair season now officially over, I hope you all enjoyed similar fun, memorable moments this past year. A few pictures of the crew and their critters are below.

Aaron won his beginner showmanship class in the Junior Pygmy Goat Show

Joce had a good fair, winning her showmanship classes with her market steer and dairy heifer.

Sara hugs her sheep during her first foray into the Guys and Gals Sheep Lead competition.

Trent took third in his showmanship class with his market steer, and second with his dairy heifer.