County Fair Time in West Michigan, Summer Readers Circle

Hello and welcome to the J. Q. Rose blog AND the Newaygo County Fair!

The county fair is in full swing this time of year. Grandstand events like Demolition derbys, tractor pulls, horse pulls, Night of Destruction (another crashing cars event), and motorcycle motorcross. I enjoy visiting the barns filled with animals and exhibits of artworks, cooking, and quilting just to name a few.  

In my area the fair, founded in 1955, is an opportunity for the "city" folks to see what the farmer does for all of us and educate the city folks about farming operations.( BTW, have you seen those enormous tractors, combines, and machinery? Amazing!)

Tractors are loaded now with air conditioning, GPS, music,
 and auto-pilot so it can plant corn. The driver just needs to turn the tractor 
around when it gets to the end of the field. Yeah, really!

I especially like the idea of the kids participating in projects for the fair. They have the opportunity to raise and show animals, grow veggies, and/or work on a craft like needle work, woodworking, painting, photography, and more. Finishing the project, having it judged by an expert in their field,  and displaying it to friends, family, and the entire community is quite a boost in self-esteem for any kid. Responsibility and work ethics are lessons learned when entering projects in the fair. 

Some of the lovely sewing projects are shown here proudly displayed with the award winning ribbons.

What can I say? If you read Dangerous Sanctuary, 
you'll know I am particularly partial to pigs.

Baby goat, one of the cutest animals there IMHO.

Baby mesmerized by the newly-hatched baby chicks.

Mr. Peacock struttin' his stuff for all the ladies!

Horse events and handling all kinds of animals are popular at the fair.

The county fairs are having a tough time of making it these days now that the state of Michigan has dropped supporting the fairs in every way. As an example, kids used to receive a token amount of cash for their ribbons, but not anymore. That didn't decrease the participation in the events.

This enormous barn to house draft horses is one of the 
many improvements to the grounds thanks to donations and grants.

Another new facility for the horse arena.

Business people and community organizations stepped up this year to pay for improvements to the fairgrounds. The area is looking pretty sharp and much more handicap accessible.

The county fair is one of the highlights of summer and a tradition for area families. The dream to promote agriculture and grow the economy by bringing the country and the city folk together through the fair continues to be realized. A huge thank you to all the volunteers, sponsors, business community, and foundations who make this event possible every year.

Please leave a comment below about your experiences with the county fair/state fair in your area? What time of year do you go to the county fair?

🐾🐔🐮🐰🐷🐶🐴🐾

Summer Readers Circle

The Readers Circle is taking a break this Friday.

Let's all meet again on August 18 when multi-genre author Janet Lane Walters will join us. We'll be winding up the Summer Readers Circle on Friday, April 25 

with British romance author, Helena Fairfax. 

Meet the authors and win prizes. See you back here then!