wiredfool

The second county fair of the season for me, and I think I’ve come to a conclusion: If it’s a county fair, there’s got to be an unmuffled V8 somewhere in the program. The Warren County Fair was racing, at the Island County Fair it was the chainsaws. 500lb Chainsaws. With a V8. (Or V6, or a Harley twin.)

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We went a couple of times, seeing as our house was nearly as close as some of the parking. The basic carnie rides and food, a cute parade with more campaigning politicians than we have residents, 4-H dogs, horses, alpacas, cats and other livestock. All there.

The photography competition seemed somewhat thin on quality — I know that there are a good number of photgraphers on the island but it just wasn’t in evidence. Overall, the Junior High and High School entries were right up there with the Amateur adults. In particular, there were a lot of pictures that were technically not all there, out of focus, oversharpened, or over enlarged. (And not in a manner that I’d really consider artistic vision.) Sadly, I found out about it the day after entries were due. As Cubs fans say, there’s always next year.

There was also a 4-H photography exhibit — the quality there seemed better then the mainline photography. I particularly enjoyed the black and whites that Rachel Evans had in the show. They had an expressive mood and atmosphere that captured the eye. Quite a professional effort.

And then there were the politicians. The Republicans had a booth to hand out campaign flyers. The Democrats had a concession stand, selling foot long hot dogs and other fair food. I can’t remember seeing fundraising on quite that scale before, but it’s reassuring to know that they know how to work.