county fair

It was fair week last week in our county. The Master Gardener Program gets a whole 100-foot by 30 foot building to build displays in and we try to do it proud. This year we had a fairy garden, [beautiful plants, all kinds of tiny fairies hiding in different places doing their thing, fairy houses, a fairy boat made from acorn shells floating on a tiny pond, even fairy dust -made from organic sugar- that kids could take home]. And we had a re-cycled garden where we added plants to all kinds of things, tires cut in half, old pots and pans, old chairs, boots, wagons, wheel barrows etc. It had an ancient Maytag wringer washing machine turned into a tiny pond where water circulated through the wringer part and even had blooming water lilies. It had clothes hanging on a line with plants in the pockets and an old barb-b-cue grill turned into a planter. Then we had an indoor plant exhibit with a complete living room set up with houseplants including orchids and bromeliads. We also had a garden of plants for tea, a naturalized garden and a garden with plants for wildlife. Master Gardeners grew the plants all summer and built the props and it wasn’t easy this summer with all the heat and drought. But it all came together beautifully. I was there for seven days straight at least 8 hours a day and let me tell you, I was glad when it was over. We did get a little rain- par for fair week- but the fairgrounds got a lot more than at my house which is 30 miles north of the fairgrounds. It was too hot to even sit out in the sun in the evening and enjoy the rodeo. I wish fairs could be held in October.
This was the first year in many, many years that I personally hadn’t made any entries in the fair. Usually I enter my fudge, plants I grew, floral arrangements, etc. I was just too busy this year. My time at fair did allow me to look in the animal barns and reminisce about when I was a kid showing animals at fair. The poor animals looked miserable in the heat. Animal barns are a lot cleaner and less smelly than they were in the old days. At another county fair in Michigan this year the pigs came down with a disease and had to be quarantined. Our fair went fairly smoothly. I did see one incident of poor sportsmanship. A kid who didn’t win first place with his meat pen of chickens splashed paint all over them in protest. In the old days that kid would have been told to take his birds home, but this one was allowed to stay. We are so afraid of hurting any ones feelings we overlook bad sportsmanship.
I have an issue with the way things are judged at fairs now anyway. Seldom does a child get anything but a blue ribbon, even if he or she admits they threw the project together the night before and it looks like crap. These are “precious little beings” that we need to encourage and everyone is a winner. Then the kid grows up and goes out into the real world and doesn’t understand why his boss criticizes him because at least he tried. The animal projects are a little more objective but even there the push is to make sure everyone is “happy” whether they tried their best and the animal is deserving or not. I don’t think projects should be made fun of or kids judged too strictly, but it’s a fact of life that you can try really hard sometimes and your result won’t be as good as someone else. And if you don‘t try really hard and get the same reward as everyone who did, what does that say to the person who worked their butt off?. What meaning does a blue ribbon have if everyone gets one?
And then there’s this thing about tiny children entering fair contests. It used to be that you had to be 10 years old to enter a 4-H project and then you were usually restricted by age as to how many and what kind of projects you could enter after that. Now we have 3 year olds showing horses and entering photography projects. They can enter in just about any area. It’s called Cloverbuds here and other things in other counties and states. What happens is Mom and Dad want to show something and can’t, or they just can’t say no to a whiny brat. It’s dangerous for tiny kids to be in show rings with large animals and even rabbits are a lot for kids under 10 to handle. What ever happened to waiting until you were old enough? The kids just get participation ribbons anyway. But there has to be judges and ribbons and a lot of time invested in judging these so called projects. Maybe there should be one or two craft projects little kids could do but even in the crafts it’s obvious the parents do most of the work. One judge asked a child what he was thinking about when he took that picture and he said his aunt took it. So what did the child learn? How to cheat? Parents- get a life and a spine. And 4-H officials should also learn to say no and get off the “everyone is a winner, lets all be careful we don’t damage a fragile ego” kick.
Fair competition doesn’t hurt kids, it builds character and prepares kids for the real world. Life isn’t always fair and everyone is not equal in all things. Tell a kid what he did wasn’t good enough and let him deal with it. Suggest ways how he could improve - give constructive criticism but don't be afraid to criticize. He’ll either try harder and learn to do it better or find something he is good at. That’s where parents can help. There is usually at least one thing a child can do or wants to do really well- help him find that and encourage him to keep working on it even if he’s not the best right away.