There is a time of year in the Reno County Community when everyone that has any zip at all begins to look forward to the fall season. Ambition begins to mount, even in looking at the fall cleaning that needs to be done after the hum drum days of summer took its toll. Enthusiasm slowly begins to make itself known, as you begin to speculate what can be accomplished before the cold weather arrives.
When John and I drive down North Main in Hutchinson, we see the action beginning to take place on the East side of the street and we realize “It is fair time once again!”
Not that we didn’t have that knowledge on the back burner all summer as John raised his garden for the Farmer’s Market or I painted my gourds for the fair.
We started doing this after the first few years of retirement and enjoy it so much, we will be doing it as long as we can.
Sometimes I wonder why I have to paint my gourds. Is it for the acclaim of winning a ribbon? Of course not. Don’t I know that many others have a lot more talent? Of course.
There is something in what I call “my writer’s brain” that loves to create and put into words, either by writing or painting, a certain feeling of life that God put in me. Just visualizing it in some form gives me a deep satisfaction.
It gave me a great joy on Friday evening to see I had won a ribbon on my different endeavors.
What fun to go back on Friday and see the results of their judging. It makes me want to skip down the sidewalk as it makes me feel young again.
Just like the days when I attended Sunrise, a country school located between Medora and Buhler. I had entered a crayon drawing and some snacks to exhibit at the Buhler Frolic Fair. On School’s Day, I found out I had won some prizes that would be given out the next day. I knew my dad couldn’t take me to Buhler again before he went to work in Hutch. I got on my new (to me) bike that my dad and I had bought with the money I had been given for raising a piglet and pedaled away to the Lumber Yard at Buhler to receive my prize money. Coming home I was on Cloud Nine. If I remember correctly, I even ran in the pasture to get the cows in for milking that evening. I had fed my artist brain that God had given me and accomplished something.
In fact, the story of The Buhler Frolic is in the Good Ole Days Magazine in the Sept.-Oct. issue. It might help you remember some of your experiences in “the good ole days!”
It is possible the only ride John and I will take on Friday night when we go back to the fair is to get on the tram that takes us around the grounds and lets us off at the Pride of Kansas Building. We will jump off with a little difficulty and hurry in to see if the judging is done. John will have entered his sunflower heads and I my painted gourds. We will also have entered the garden produce that has survived, including a table of vegetables. I will wait to send this column until we get back on Friday night so I can tell you what we won. God is so good to give us these things to enjoy!
It is now Saturday morning and we did get back from the results of our projects at the fair. I was delighted to get a first on my painted gourd of sunflowers,
second on my caricature and fifth on my decorated gourd. We got a second on John’s table of veggies and several on his produce, so once again, we feel blest.
Interesting people were all over the fair we noticed as we got on the tram on the North side of the fairgrounds. There was a man driving the tractor and a lady and a gentleman keeping us informed as to what was happening. They went out of their way to be kind and considerate.
We got off near the Pride of Kansas Building and made our way in around 6:30 in the evening. The judges were still hard at work so we walked around a bit and finally sat down at one of the eating tables. Soon a younger couple sat down across from us and we enjoyed visiting with them. That is what Kansas does best,
and that is what our state is all about…friendly people with good values.
After the judging was finished we hurried over to examine the results. It is was so much fun to see what people came up with. There was a new category called something like “Creative Spuds” that was interesting. I had entered it but John did not have a potato that was five inches so I had let it go. It is inspiring to see all the different possibilities. I always come away feeling inspired and challenged for next year.
At any rate, you still have time to get down to the fair and enjoy it, no matter what age you are. Our kids have been to different fairs all over the country and they still promise the Kansas State Fair is the best in the land! God is so good to let us enjoy it!
Doris appreciates your remarks and can be reached at [email protected]
