{"id":5616,"date":"2015-08-30T06:00:18","date_gmt":"2015-08-30T10:00:18","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.dennygibson.com\/blog\/?p=5616"},"modified":"2015-08-29T16:07:47","modified_gmt":"2015-08-29T20:07:47","slug":"a-pretty-fair-week","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dennygibson.com\/blog\/2015\/08\/a-pretty-fair-week\/","title":{"rendered":"A Pretty Fair Week"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"gdcf15_01\"<\/a>Once upon a time, all of Ohio’s county fairs preceded the state fair but not anymore. In fact, only 29 of the 88 opened their gates before those of the biggie in Columbus this year. When I attended the state fair a few weeks ago, I mentioned that I make it to the fair in my original home county from time to time. This year I made it to The Great Darke County Fair<\/a> on Monday which is, among other things, Senior Citizens Day. It’s a day when folks over 60 or under 12 and ministers of any age get in free. Yes, I am cheap.<\/p>\n

\"gdcf15_02\"<\/a>\"gdcf15_03\"<\/a>Darke County is the Horseshoe Pitching Capital of the World<\/a> so finding a tournament in progress wasn’t much of a surprise. Some of these guys can throw more consecutive ringers than I can take consecutive steps without tripping.<\/p>\n

\"gdcf15_05\"<\/a>\"gdcf15_04\"<\/a>It’s another sort of competition that is at the heart of all fairs and I got to see just a little of the Junior Fair Dairy Show. I believe the fellow in the second picture placed third and he couldn’t have been happier.<\/p>\n

\"gdcf15_06\"<\/a>\"gdcf15_07\"<\/a>\"gdcf15_08\"<\/a>I hate to knock the Ohio State Fair but the only “amazing creatures” I saw there were “The World’s Smallest Woman” and “Snake Girl”. The Great Darke County Fair has a whole menagerie plus a giant horse<\/a>. Of course, the midway also had plenty of games, rides, and food. The pictured food stand certainly isn’t the flashiest or exotic. I’m including it for personal reasons. I have a real weakness for ice cream made the old-fashioned way in a mixer cranked by an old hit-or-miss engine. Doubly so on an apple dumpling<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"gdcf15_11\"<\/a>\"gdcf15_10\"<\/a>\"gdcf15_09\"<\/a>When I saw that this was the day of the High School Marching Band Spectacular, I decided to hang around to see the band from my old school. I got there just a little late and missed one band. It took me awhile but I eventually figured out that the band I had missed was my old school, Ansonia. I still enjoyed the show.<\/p>\n

\"gdcf15_12\"<\/a>\"gdcf15_13\"<\/a>Even though I get back to the fair every few years, it’s been quite a while since I’ve seen a dark Darke County Fair. I probably should have stayed around to ride to the top of that Ferris wheel but it was getting chilly and I was ready to head home.<\/p>\n

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\"gets15_03\"<\/a>\"gets15_02\"<\/a>\"gets15_01\"<\/a>I visited fair grounds again on Thursday but it wasn’t for a fair. It was for the Tri-State Gas Engine and Tractor Association<\/a>‘s 50th Antique Engine & Tractor Show on\u00a0the Jay County Fair Grounds in Portland, Indiana. Terry, a long time friend who collects Wheel Horses, has exhibited at the show for many years. Dale, another long time friend, lives reasonably close and has attended the show on several occasions. This was my first time but I knew I’d be in good hands. I arrived a few minutes ahead of Dale which gave me a chance to snap a few pictures of Terry (on left in third picture) and his tractors. The Massey-Ferguson and Simplicities in the foreground belong to Terry’s brother, Joe.<\/p>\n

\"gets15_04\"<\/a>\"gets15_05\"<\/a>\"gets15_06\"<\/a>As expected, there was no shortage of gas engines including plenty of the hit and miss variety. A sizable percentage were not running and probably couldn’t without considerable effort while others were hard at work doing things like making (or at least pretending to make) ice cream. Some were running but were just relaxing and blowing smoke rings. One display prompted me to attempt a rare video to show one solution to the aggravation of having an engine that works and a console TV that doesn’t.
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