Going to the fair

I remember very vividly my first fair. I was 19 years old and fresh off the boat from Austria, so the sight of so many animals in one place and the conglomeration of smells - fried food, manure, engine grease, and stale popcorn - nearly knocked me off my feet. But I loved it!

So when I arrived in Ontario, OR, early August for a weekend with a supporting church, and they told me the County Fair was going on, I was super excited! TV Baptist Church had a table in the Exhibition Center, and I was signed up to work one of the 4-hour shifts Friday afternoon, but I showed up early so that I could walk the grounds.

My adventure began in the Art Barn. I saw one of the most amazing photographs of a little boy looking up admiringly at his Dad while fishing in a lake. Then there were the aisles and aisles of homemade quilts. Talk about hours of work in one spot. The home-making section was fascinating with colored ribbons adorning jars of jam and platters of pies. But my favorite thing in this barn were the giant vegetables: there was a squash the size of head! (We just don't grow them that big in Germany.)

From there I wandered over to the arena for cattle showing. I happened to catch the scene during the Junior Competition, and the little boys and girls looked so cute in their denim jeans, checkered shirts and cowboy boots and hat to match. It must've been hot for most of them in that sun though. I found it interesting what the judges were focused on. I would have thought the cows that had their heads down or who were the hardest to get into position would be eliminated first, but they cared more about the stance of their legs. Who knew? I still don't know why ...

For lunch I had the world's best lemonade I've ever tasted (I went back for more in a different flavor twice) as well as that juicy burger, and then I found the TVBC people working the table. It was so neat. As part of the exhibition, we had a replica Repenomamus dinosaur names Pspot (pronounced Spot). He was quite the attraction, especially for some of the younger kids, and as I teacher I was naturally drawn to them. We handed out hundreds of tracts, and one of the best conversations I had was with a lady who said she attended another church in town. I told her I was visiting TVBC and invited her to come that Sunday. She ended up sharing a lot of personal family matters with me, and we exchanged names and cards with the promise to pray for each other. Nothing else can quite give you that feeling of flying high as connecting with someone in the Lord. What a neat privilege to do that all around the world.

Yep, it's decided. I love fairs!