Our calendars have been cleared, our cash has been stockpiled and we have spent an inordinate amount of time

We will be trimming and washing 8 or 9 sheep for the fair this year.

trimming, shearing, washing, baking, organizing, packing, and preparing. In late summer, that can only mean one thing at the Reese house — is it time for the Ohio State Fair.

We almost live at the event from late July through the early August conclusion of the fair. Our children have an almost constant sheen of fair grime coating their bodies and we all smell like a mix of sweat, sheep, sawdust and fair food through most of the event. Our daughter participates in the ladies lead competition, we show Horned Dorsets in the Open Breeding Sheep Show, Kristin entered (and won) a table display competition in the Ag & Hort. Building, we have two Christmas trees on display (the grand champion spruce, the grand champion fir and the overall Reserve Champion), Kristin coordinates the Ohio Lamb and Wool Queen Competition, and she is doing a cooking demo or two and serving lamb in the food pavilion. To top it off, I take hundreds of photos and put the best up instantly on the

We had the Reserve Grand Champion with this Canaan fir tree a the Ohio State Fair.

Web, write multiple stories and attend numerous events at the Ohio State Fair, while always taking some time to catch up with old friends as well. Whew…I am tired before it even starts, and the kids aren’t even in 4-H yet.

The event as a whole culminates countless volunteer hours, a year of preparation, probably millions of hours of preparation time for the participants in the wide array of competitions at the event and a huge effort from the Ohio State Fair staff. Be sure to follow all of hard work from the OCJ/OAN staff at the event by staying tuned to ocj.com. Stop by and see us at the Junior Livestock Shows.

Campbell did a great job showing her lamb in Ladies Lead.