Amador County Fair

I should rename this blog Moser Good Eats and Good Times. Verne and I spent Friday morning at the Amador County Fair where we had a good time, but no good eats and to Verne’s chagrin, no beer! However, even if the Budweiser stand had been open he would have grumbled that they didn’t serve Deschutes Pale Ale, his latest, favorite beer. (Guess we’ll have to move to Bend, home of Deschutes Brewery!) It’s been a while since we’ve been to the Fair. After eight consecutive years with arts, crafts, and animal entries, with the latter requiring twice daily trips to the fairgrounds to feed and groom, as well as clean stalls, we took a well-deserved hiatus from the event.

We started our day with a tour of the animal barns. It was a trip down memory lane. A sign I saw later that morning was fitting: Living in the Past Lane. For the most part, we live in the present, but our walk through the barns with all of the pigs, lambs, cows and teenaged kids tending to the critters brought rise to happy memories of the girls and their 4-H animal projects throughout junior high and high school.  I took a few pictures of a very photogenic pig and then decided I’d spend some time on the weekend looking through old Fair photos of the girls.

After watching an antique tractor parade (right up Verne’s alley) we walked to  Pokerville Hall and checked out the arts and crafts exhibits. I think it’s time I entered my quilts and painted textiles and maybe my jam. I’m not sure about the latter, but the quilt display was unimpressive and the art entries weren’t much better. I think I have a chance at a few first place ribbons. One year I took first, second, and third…we still laugh about that. There were only three entries in that particular category and they were all mine!

We moved on to the old engine display where Verne walked from one exhibit to another and stood and watched and listened to the antique engines run. Spit and sputter is a more accurate description. I know it sounds crazy, but we actually spent an hour in the hot sun looking at this stuff (okay, maybe it only felt like an hour). Amador County has a club called Early Day Gas Engine and Tractors. It’s mind-boggling! Even more so, Verne qualifies for membership as he has an old gas engine that is completely restored and in working condition just like the ones exhibited. I think he’d fit right in with the old geezers.

We forgot to walk through the Poultry Barn, but then I have my own poultry barn with 35+ chickens. It was good to be back at the Fair, which was made better by free admission and parking as Friday was Senior Day! 

P.S. I looked for the hundreds of old Fair photos I was sure we had and only found a handful. Verne reminded me that those were the early days of digital cameras and definitely prior to cell phone cameras. Until I get out the photo boxes that hopefully have a few more of the girls at the Fair, here's one from 10+ years ago of Jana, Lauren, and their young friend, Jacey, shearing a lamb for Fair...