This Neubian Goat munched his hay lunch while pretty much ignoring a pesky photographer in the well ventilated barns at this year’s Richland County Fair.

OUR COUNTY FAIR—

A slice of Americana rolls around about this time every year. It is barn after barn of animals; the proud projects of countless Future Farmer of America kids.

And it is a fairgrounds midway stuffed full of Carney hucksters and food concessions and spinning, stomach twisting, ear blasting rides.

It’s a symbiotic relationship that works.

The fading sign on the antique barn celebrated the 150th year of our fair, highlighting the years 1850 to 2000. That means it started here a decade before Honest Abe was president.

During the heat of the day the corn-fed kids spiff up their animals—and themselves—and head for the show ring with dreams of everything from a ribbon to a grand champion award that could contribute to their ride to college.

At night the townies arrive; a noticeable quantity of them heredity’s rejects and fresh meat for the Carnies and each other.

And, it is a time to reminisce. My dad was an auxiliary policeman and worked the fair in the late 40s. I remember tagging along. That was when the fairgrounds were on Springmill St., where the Taylor Metal factory is today.

Now, since sometime in the mid 50s I’d guess, the facility occupies a huge batch of acreage on the corner of Home Rd., and Longview Ave.

My bride and I had our first date there in those mid 50s and the first kiss happened that very night way up on the Ferris wheel. My oh my!

Today I got there in time to see a herd of those corn fed kids doing a community shower in a critter washing pen. They had just finished a mud volleyball contest. Then a hunk of that crowd moved to the bleachers for a spirited toy tractor pull.

That bunch of folks, at least, knew chocolate milk doesn’t come from brown cows.

I got a pineapple sundae and sat in the shade and wondered if that old Ferris wheel wasn’t, maybe, right over there.

What a marvelously clear memory of that night way back then. My oh my!