The Parish Fair and Livestock Show

Today was Fair Day.  The kids were out of school so that they could attend the Jefferson Davis Parish Fair, participate in the Livestock show, watch the parade, and ride all of the rides.  We woke up and got all of the chores done and loaded Amy into the trailer.  Amy is our two year old Jersey heifer. She will be calving in late December or early January.  Benjamin decided to show her instead of bringing Rosie and her little calf Clarabelle.  Sometimes a ride in the trailer freaks the cows out.  Not Amy. She was a real sport and stuck her nose out of the window the entire drive to the Fairgrounds.

Amy

We quickly got Amy washed and dried and tied up and at 10 minutes to 9, Benjamin said, "Dad, we can still make it to the parade."  We drove off quickly and took our place on the side of Main Street just in time for the escort police car leading the parade, sirens blaring.  Benjamin brought a shopping bag to catch the loot. He's done this a time or two!  There is a formula to parade watching.  You stand there, listening to the marching bands, and when the queens atop sports cars pass by or politicians or floats full of people ride by, you make eye contact and wave. The wave is rewarded with an onslaught of candy, beads, cups and other prizes thrown at you.  Benjamin's bag was full of candy by the time the parade was over. He deemed it to be a successful parade.  3 out of 4 dentists would agree.

Back we went to the fair.  We still had work to do.  We got the clippers and gave Amy a good clipping.  Various townfolk with kids came through the barn to view the livestock and we were able to talk to them about the animals.  I figure that is a good thing.  Even in rural America, people are moving away from their agricultural roots.  To enable kids to pet a dairy cow, learn about where their milk comes from and re-engage with agriculture is a good thing in my book!  At around 12:30 the first class of Jerseys were called into the ring.  Benjamin's heifer, Amy, was the oldest heifer in the show.  He led her into the ring and she behaved quite well.

She got first in her class.  Well, she was the only heifer in her class, but the judge said she looked real good and "maternal."  I guess that's a good thing as she'll be a mother in less than three months.

The Champions from all of the classes were called back into the ring so that the judge could name the Grand Champion.  There were five other classes, so five heifers total in the champion class.

The judge was thorough and had the exhibitors parade their animals as he deliberated.

In the end, Benjamin (and Amy) won Grand Champion!  I don't think Benjamin expected that.  

He got a nice rosette ribbon to hang on the wall in his room.

Grand Champion

He also showed in the Showmanship competition and got second place in a class of three.  He won some nice ribbons.

Benjamin had to work in the FFA booth where they sold BBQ hamburgers and Blooming Onions. They are raising money for an FFA trip that they will be taking. Benjamin's job was dipping the onion in buttermilk and then battering the Blooming onion prior to frying.  Benjamin said they were $7 a piece, but they were 'selling like hotcakes'.  I told him they should have also sold hotcakes.

Later, Benjamin met up with some friends and they spent the afternoon riding rides.  He had a good time and told me that "it was a good day."  I can remember enjoying myself at the fair when I was his age. There was a ride back then called the "Rock-o-Planes"  Of course I googled a picture of it!:

The Rock-o-Planes

This ride was essentially a Ferris wheel, but you sat with one other person and the cage you were in flipped while the whole wheel turned.  You could make it go quite fast by pulling the bar in the cage and using your weight to spin it.  Five of us stood in line, but only two could fit in each cage, so one of my buddies had to ride with a kid.  When we got off the ride, we were all laughing, excited after the thrill.  My buddy came walking up to us and had purple vomit all over the front of his shirt. Of course we asked, "What happened to you?"  He said, "Some darn kid I had to ride with on the Rock-o-planes threw up all over me!"  The words were hardly out of his mouth when the kid came walking by, holding the hand of his mother and pointed to my friend and exclaimed, "Momma, there's the man that threw up on me!"  We thought we'd never stop laughing and we still tease him to this day (30 something years later)!

Yep, the fair brings back memories and Benjamin made some he'll carry along with him today.