By Andrew Walsh
awalsh@wbcowqel.com
The theme for the 2013 Crawford County Fair is, “Hit the Right Notes,” and the prep work taking place on Thursday night was attempting to do just that. Mother Nature lent a hand in a big way by finally calling off the monsoon, and those who were setting up their exhibits, activities, and work stations were able to do so under sunny skies.
Bob White and Brian Cole, two of the members of the senior fair board, help to manage the buildings and grounds, and were on-site to manage the arrival of all sorts of participants. When asked if he was the “logistics manager”, White chuckled and said, “Sure, the kids will love that.”
The rain has delayed things slightly, as by this point in a normal year set up is nearly complete. As of Thursday night it was still too wet for many of the campers to arrive, but all should be well by the weekend.
“It’s frustrating, but there are no serious concerns,” White said regarding the delay.
As a participant with the Bucyrus Tail Waggers, Blaine Bishop was hard at work with his Mom and Dad setting up his decorated fair booth. Blaine’s booth, while staying within the theme of “Hit the Right Notes” of course, will feature dogs of the stuffed animal variety, as he recreates a pet store. This meshes well with the animals he will be showing, as they will be live dogs.
Blaine attends Colonel Crawford Schools, and this will be his second year participating in the fair with 4-H.
“I learned to go by a theme for our fair booth and to not get into very great detail about specific stuff,” Blaine said. “Try to stay even about all topics about the project you’re doing.”
One of the less exciting parts of the prep work, but very important, is making sure all of the food stalls are ready to serve the hungry fairgoers come Saturday. Cindy Dunn was scrubbing away inside of the 4-H lunch stand with a rubber glove on either hand. She said her food vendors come to Bucyrus on Thursdays, so she spent the day receiving deliveries, among which were 600 pounds of beef. Coincidentally, the 4-H special is a double cheeseburger with all the fixin’s. The stand will begin service 1:00 on Saturday.
Over in the horse barn was Bailey Wallace getting some rather exuberant help from her younger brother and sister, as well as her father. Bailey was decorating the stall that will be occupied by her horse, Gunner. Participating with the Young Riders, out of the Red Rose Stable, this will be Bailey’s first year showing a horse at the fair.
Bailey’s little brother Ben was asked who Gunner was, and he replied, “A great big black horse. I mean white!”
It may have taken Ben a second chance, but he hit the right note in the end! Good luck to all the Fair Participants and to a successful fair for everyone.