The buzz about the Skagit County Fair has been almost non-stop for the past month. We attended on Thursday, and now I see why the buzz was so bright and insistent. The Skagit County Fair was a completely different experience than the Texas State Fair. First, it was postage stamp sized compared to the TSF. Second, it was attended almost exclusively by local people, a bunch of which were farmers. Third, the food portion of the fair run by the locals featured their own food products, and it was wonderful. I didn't have a corn dog or a funnel cake or cotton candy - there were so many better choices.
The first inkling we had that this fair was going to be quite different was the flower judging. One entire wall of an exhibition area was devoted to flowers. I now know who the premiere
gardener of Skagit County is. Her name is Judy Peppers, and her multiple entries all won blue ribbons as well as best of class ribbons and the overall best of show: Stem Lettuce. Don't ask, just look at the pictures - you'll pick it right out. Some of Ms. Pepper's winners were just amazing - from individual flowers to arrangements. I also saw flowers I've heard of but never seen (delphiniums), as well as flowers I haven't ever heard of and saw for the first time. I also learned about fuchsias - there are 8000 varieties, you know. It was a great kick-off to fair day. The exhibition of flowers, produce, arts and crafts was the most exciting portion of the fair for me, and up here quilting is NOT with the needlecraft - it's an art & displayed with original photographs and paintings.
The most enthralling portion of the fair was the Raptor Rescue show. This is an obviously named organization who save hurt and maimed raptors including falcons, hawks, owls and eagles. They travel with a set of show animals who are too damaged to be rehabilitated to the wild. The narrator was this young pigtailed girl who had an encyclopedic knowledge of raptors and was able to share it in an entertaining but serious manner. We were able to see some magnificent birds very close up. I had no idea that an immature bald eagle is a variegated black and whitish feathers. I learned that one owl can eat 2000 mice in a year. I was amazed to hear that falcons dive at 250 miles an hour after prey and have specially designed nostrils so their lungs don't burst from such a sudden rush of air. The handler of the birds - especially of the eagles - have to physically train to be able to handle these birds, as well as they have to form an emotional bond with the bird. The handler/bird bond keeps a mature eagle, who can exert 200 pounds of pressure using its feet, from crushing the bones in the handler's arm as it perches on the heavy leather glove.
Another charming aspect of this fair was the cat and dog judging. The dog judging went on all day long - from obedience to breeds, to classes of dogs (like hounds). My favorite domestic animal judging was the cat competition which included cage decoration. I mean, after all, what can you make a cat do? The cat cages were about 3 foot long by 2 foot high, and they were the homes of the cats during the fair day. We had cats lounging (and sleeping, of course) in miniature kitchens, and bedrooms, and in homemade settings that defy description - such as outer space. The 4H runs a cat club for the elementary school set, and they are encouraged to enter. There's also a bunny club as well as a dog club - well, you get the picture. We were baffled by the barn labelled "Exotics". Upon entering we discovered birds, turtles and snakes. Check out the picture of my favorite exotic.
And there were cows. Lots of cows. Every age, every size, every color. There were a few steers, but this is really dairy country. That means Holsteins and Jerseys. Big Bubba (a 3000 pound Holstein cow) with his 2000 pound friend Margaret Thatcher was displayed in his separate pen, so he and she could be admired. Big Bubba was so big that I couldn't get him entirely in the picture. My favorite part of the cow stuff was the Dairy Quiz Bowl. It was a long table set up in the cow barn around which sat 10 junior high school age kids. They each had buzzers which sounded and a light lit up when the buzzer was pressed. A mom was Alex Trebeck, and she was asking dairy questions. I couldn't answer most of them. (Like: What's the name of the web site for butter? Answer: Butternow.com). It was soon obvious that these are dairy farmers' children, and it was equally obvious that the boys just liked to press the buzzers.
Horse events went on all day long. I've also noticed this is horse country. There was every type of riding competition as well as racing competition. We saw pole racing - the first time I'd ever seen that. The horse and rider weave around a set of poles as fast as possible and then race back to the starting line.
Without a doubt though, my favorite competition was pig showmanship. Imagine a boxing ring sized pen with sawdust over the floor. To begin the competition 3 - 5 children arrive one at a time each herding a 300 pound pig using a cane slightly longer than a conductor's baton. What they really needed were tasers. Pigs don't exactly 'get along' in close quarters. They are smart and willful and they like to BITE one another. I'm certain they would bite people given a chance and the right circumstance
Children and pigs milled around the boxing ring sized area. Some pigs would just wander around, while others didn't like the show idea at all and kept trying to escape back to their individual pens. The judge would say, "Let's move them to this end of the pen." Children would begin tapping the snout and faces of their individual pig as well as slapping them with the flat of their hands along the pigs' spines - seemingly a signal to walk. The pigs had their own ideas about where they wanted to go, and protested by squealing madly when given any direction they hadn't thought of themselves. At some point, the judge would say, "Now show me your pig at his best." Then it was a mad scramble of trying to get a pig into a somewhat posed position, attract the judge's attention, and keep the other pigs off yours. This is where the dads, holding what looked like elongated tops to Coleman Coolers, would leap up and shove these 3x3 foot pieces of hard, thick plastic between 2 pigs busily biting one another. There was blood drawn - fortunately, pig blood rather than human. I can see where a bad tempered pig would be nothing to fool around with. My favorite pig showman was "Sean". He was about 6 years old and a Novice - this was his first competition. I tell you, the pig was twice his size and his face was red as a beet when he finished - but he was game. He never gave up, and he controlled his pig - well, mostly. The only audience were family members and close friends. Everyone knew everyone. I'm pretty sure we looked like $3 dollar bills sitting in the stand (notice 'stand' - it was about 6 feet long and had 3 tiers.) It was really fun though.
Entertainment was on a stage constructed by the local lumber company that was 3 steps higher than the folding chair audience of 200. You drifted in, sat down, ate, applauded, rested your feet, corralled your kids, visited with your friends all while the 'entertainment' occurred. I had two favorite acts. One was the Accordion Band - yep, all accordions and 2 tubas. Most of the accordion players were ladies of a certain age who all wore flower wreathes in their hair along with their big blue sequined vests. They were really good musicians. After their concert I went up to talk to them, and boy, were they thrilled. They were very excited that I wanted to take their pictures. I found out that "Hugo" - apparently in Mount Vernon he only needed one name - was a famous accordion player. (Don't ask because I don't know what the criteria for 'famous' IS for an accordion player.) Anyway, he formed the Accordion Band in 1935. It played for decades with Hugo teaching crop after crop of children how to play the accordion and drafting them as adults into the band. When he died, the band withered, but was reborn in 1995 and has been going strong ever since. They play at fairs, art shows, festivals, nursing homes, churches, and I got the feeling anyplace that would have them. They do a killer polka. The pictures show them smiling, but they smiled like this the entire time they played. I can hardly wait to see them again.
Entertainment was on a stage constructed by the local lumber company that was 3 steps higher than the folding chair audience of 200. You drifted in, sat down, ate, applauded, rested your feet, corralled your kids, visited with your friends all while the 'entertainment' occurred. I had two favorite acts. One was the Accordion Band - yep, all accordions and 2 tubas. Most of the accordion players were ladies of a certain age who all wore flower wreathes in their hair along with their big blue sequined vests. They were really good musicians. After their concert I went up to talk to them, and boy, were they thrilled. They were very excited that I wanted to take their pictures. I found out that "Hugo" - apparently in Mount Vernon he only needed one name - was a famous accordion player. (Don't ask because I don't know what the criteria for 'famous' IS for an accordion player.) Anyway, he formed the Accordion Band in 1935. It played for decades with Hugo teaching crop after crop of children how to play the accordion and drafting them as adults into the band. When he died, the band withered, but was reborn in 1995 and has been going strong ever since. They play at fairs, art shows, festivals, nursing homes, churches, and I got the feeling anyplace that would have them. They do a killer polka. The pictures show them smiling, but they smiled like this the entire time they played. I can hardly wait to see them again.
The other entertainment that captured us was Sterling, the Magician. We sat down on the folding chairs in front of the 'stage' to eat our grass fed beef burgers prepared on a home grill right before our eyes as this 19 year old kid walked out in a red satin ruffled shirt, black vest and black pants. He confided that he was from Lynden (a town 30 miles north). Drake and I just looked at each other. My expectation was a show slightly better than what you could hire for a child's birthday party. This expectation was reinforced by his slightly nervous start and faintly inept manipulation of the infamous metal rings. He certainly had enthusiasm, and it quickly became apparent that he had started with his least successful stuff working up to his magnificent finale of sleight of hand manipulations of several appearing and disappearing decks of cards. When his hour was up, we had been totally charmed and completely entertained.
Overall the musical entertainment had one common thread - all first class musicians who were locals. We saw one band and later complimented one of its members who played multiple instruments. He couldn't wait to give us a card and confide that his band played every 2nd Wednesday at the Rockfish Grill and Brewery - which we've been to twice. Yummy fish and micro brewed beer. We met the musician at the Wine Tasting venue run by the 3 local wineries in the county.
I visited for a long time with one of the winery owners and I really enjoyed two of the blends that they are making. This was dinner time, and to join the glasses of wine we had...........wait for it............. handmade crepes from one of the local food booths. Mine was a buckwheat crepe with home smoked salmon, spinach, fennel, lavender and blueberries. Drake's involved onions, homemade Italian sausage, tomatoes, onions. That was the 'fair food' I was talking about earlier. We polished off dinner with dessert from the Dairy Bar - run by the wives of the dairy farmers. Ice cream, anyone? We were stuffed, so we didn't enjoy the Swedish pancakes or the pulled pork BBQ (Remember the pigs from earlier? Trust me, their highest and best use.) Not to mention the chowder and other seafood delicacies. Corn dogs never looked so shabby. The locals were, however, shaking their heads over the fried twinkies being served at the carnival portion of the fair. They were agog when I described the fried butter I had eaten at the Texas State Fair.
Overall it was more than a fun day. It was a celebration of what they do best in this county. They should be proud of their flowers and their animals and their produce. I think us being from as far away as Texas was a real treat for them. We were new people, and everyone we met couldn't wait to share especially when they discovered we were going to be here until December. Their friendliness here is naive and charming. We were told many times about neighbors, friends, children, or old college mates who live in Texas. They would just beam when we would nod and say, Yes, we know exactly where Plano, Arlington, Kileen, etc. is. Then, this being farmer land, the conversation would turn to the weather and with much head shaking they would confide they wouldn't ever want to live where it was that hot. We would cheerfully agree that they were completely right.
We spent over 8 hours at a fair the size of a couple of football fields. There were no new cars. The commercial exhibition was so small and pitiful that I felt sorry for the vendors. We actually paid a reasonable price for excellent food. The entertainment was relaxed and people were appreciative. We watched the teen queens who were all horse girls in their tight blue jean short-shorts and their shin high cowboy boots hanging out front of their horses' stalls which they had individually decorated not only with the horses' names but with flowers and other homey touches. There were people lounging on blankets as their toddlers slept. The teenage boys were showing off their muscles. The test kitchens were filled with 4H girls being encouraged by their mothers. There was an entire building devoted to the arts and crafts of the 4H kids. Other kids were lounging on their cows, cleaning up manure, grooming their bunnies, showing off their cats or dogs or sheep or horse or cow. The ferris wheel was small. There were only 10 carnival rides. It was almost as if we had dropped into the 1951 movie "State Fair". This event was a snapshot of what are the most important things to the people who live here. Check out the pictures by clicking on this link:
