June goes to the fair – Shaw Local

I am a food judge for the La Salle County 4-H Fair.

On Thursday, the first day of the fair, the volunteer judges arrive at the fairgrounds at 7:30 a.m. The organizer brings a delicious egg casserole for breakfast. You also have to taste the baked goods when judging them. I don’t know how I became a judge. Apparently I said yes to someone years ago and they keep asking. I like doing it. In fact, it’s gotten better.

In the early years, cookies, buns, coffee cakes, jams and more just came along. We judged them against standards and checklists, gave them a blue, red or white ribbon and that was it.

U of I Extension improved the process by including the 4-H kids. Now we sit across from those who prepared the food. We still have checklists, but it’s more of a conversation. Much better. You spend the morning talking to nice kids and tasting homemade food. What’s not to like?

After judging was over, I strolled through the barns. I was once a 4-H kid who showed Jersey cows at the McLean County Fair in the ’60s. I met kids from other towns, danced to live bands, and blew all my money at the fair. The fair was the highlight of my summer.

As I entered a barn, I saw four children sitting quietly in an empty stall at the far end. It looked like they were playing cards. We played cards at the fair when things were quieter. As I got closer, I saw that they weren’t holding cards, but were looking at their phones. Times are changing.

My wife’s family had a meeting at the Ottawa Lions Club the weekend of the fair. My granddaughter June and her parents came early to help with set-up and tear-down. They get more done when June isn’t there, so I took June to the fair on Saturday morning.

She is 3 1/2 now and is interested in everything. When her parents take her to new places, they call these trips adventures. I told her that the county fair is a special adventure filled with farm animals.

We arrived early. June was well behaved. She didn’t run in front of me and took my hand when I asked her to. She had never been so close to pigs before and was fascinated by them. She found their fur scratchy and laughed at the sound of their grunting. It was hot and the pigs were sprawled out in their pens.

“Look, Daddy,” she said, pointing to the long rows of a sow’s teats. “So many.”

June notices things like that. She was breastfed not long ago. I’ve told her things about pigs.

“Pigs have lots of babies at once. About ten. Sometimes more. They come out in their own little pouch, break it open, walk around their mother’s hind legs and find a teat.”

I loved watching animals give birth on the farm. I hope June gets to experience that one day.

June liked the goats. They stuck their heads out of the pens to be petted. Some had curved horns. But she liked the sheep best.

“Why the sheep?” I asked.

“Oh daddy. So soft.”

She touched every animal she saw, even a stern gander. I tried to stop her, she ignored me, but the goose behaved.

Exhibitors led Hereford steers into the show ring. After they had passed, we went to the cattle barn. There was a fresh cow pat in the aisle. I took June’s hand.

“Careful, June, that’s cow manure.”

She looked up at me, then back at the manure, lifted her foot and placed it right in the middle of the green clump.

“June! Why did you do that?”

She looked up at me and smiled. Her face gave me the answer. Because she was there.

I led June out onto the grass and showed her how farm children wipe the soles and sides of their shoes to wipe off the manure. Oh, how nice it would be to learn all about life again at the age of three.

Dave McClure lives in Ottawa. He is long retired and a director of a local private agency. He is also a blogger. Learn more about Dave at Daveintheshack.blogger.com