All’s Fair in Owyhee!
by Jacquie Rogers
When I was a kid in Owyhee County, Idaho, the year was divided up in two parts — 3 days of the fair, and 362 days preparing for it. The Owyhee County Fair & Rodeo outshined every other event, at least it did for me. The heat, sawdust, animals... the excitement of winning a blue ribbon or sometimes even a purple... yep, that’s when people kick back and enjoy themselves.
This year, I rented a booth in the Commercial Building, where I featured my Hearts of Owyhee series. More about that later.
These days, the fair is four days and it’s the second week of August, not the third. Lots has changed over the years. The old and young go, but we didn’t see many twenty-somethings there. The food and art exhibits were fewer, but the livestock barns bulged as always. Good to see.
Speaking of livestock, they’ve now added goats. I never once saw a goat the whole time I lived in Owyhee County, but apparently lots of folks have them now.
Of course the standard dairy, beef, swine, and sheep. The granddaughters had a great time snapping pictures. Here are a few:
A few prize chickens shared a barn with the cute little lop-eared bunnies. I’m gonna get one of those someday. (A bunny, not a danged chicken. I've had enough of those.)
The Tumbleweed Theater had several fun acts including Larry—and I’m sorry but I can’t remember the name of his act. He walked around the fairgrounds, twirling loops around people. Everyone got a real kick out of it, and not one kicked his stilts out from under him.
We all love the rodeo but we only managed to go one night. Loved the mutton-busting. The wild horse race lived up to the bill. A horse dragged a man all the way around the arena (and it’s a big one) three or four times, but he hung on to the rope, and eventually they got that horse saddled. Not sure if he won or not, but he finished the race. Not very many do.
Ranch bronc and the normal bronc events are always a treat.
Ahem. Back to work. My booth turned out pretty well even though I had no idea what size it was until I got there. What decorations to bring was purely by-guess and by-golly. Turns out, the stuff we brought actually worked out, and even fit right. I figured the commercial stall would be about the same size as the dairy stalls, and I’d spent many an hour in the dairy barn as a kid, so I figured 8’ x 9’. Imagine my surprise when I was actually right! Well, close. I was assigned #7 and it measured 7.5’ x 9.5’ so my banner worked and things just came together.
 |
| Hearts of Owyhee booth... mostly finished |
It was the second day of the fair when we realized the banner had a typo—misspelled “Owyhee” of all things. How embarrassing. My husband didn’t say a thing when I told him, just stapled a cover flat over the two offending letters. Worked great.
Other than roasting half to death, we had a great time—met with old friends and made some new friends. Even some relatives showed up. I gave away tons of promo material but only sold half my books. Since most people there live too far away from stores to buy print books and most that I talked to were strictly ebook readers, I thought that was pretty good.
The Owyhee County sheriff deputies wouldn't take my Hearts of Owyhee junior deputy stars, but we gave out over 500 to the kids and a lot of adults. Everyone's up for a good time. Like riding a mechanical bull. The operator told me that little girls generally do the best.
And of course there's fair food. Fair food is unique in and of itself, but in Owyhee County, no event is complete without a chorizo. The Basque kind. Absolutely heaven.
So there's my "what did you do this summer" essay. Actually, that only took up a week and the rest of the time I've been writing. What's your idea of summer fun?
Jacquie, thanks for the snapshot of your visit to the Owyhee County Fair. It brought back memories of long ago when I worked as PR director for the Ohio State Fair and got to peek behind-the-scenes. Great fun. Great people. Great food. At the end of each night, a few of us would start at one end of the midway and eat our way to the other end. Ah, the memories of "fair" food.
ReplyDeleteTom, you really need to try a genuine Basque chorizo. There's nothing quite like them. This fair was dinky compared to the one where you worked, but fairs are fairs. People go there to have a good time and they do. I hope to go again next year.
DeleteHeck, I should be able to round one up here in Texas. I did see a recipe for Basque chorizo that requires 12 ft of hog casings. And, yes, fairs are fairs regardless of the size. Dinky fairs reflect true Americana.
DeleteThere are chorizos in Seattle, too, but they're NOT the same.
DeleteAnd rodeos. I do dearly love a rodeo. We have those - and fairs - even here in the middle of Florida. Great fun and fabulous food.
ReplyDeleteThere's just nothing else like spending your day at the fair and your night at the rodeo. :)
DeleteJacquie,
ReplyDeleteThis is TRULY great stuff! It brings back so many memories of long ago and the many county fairs I went to in my youth.
I participated in a few booths long ago, but they were NOT my own, but belonged to farmers wives who sold a collection of canned jars and baked goods.
You didn’t say, but did you sell a lot?
Thank you so much for sharing this with us.
Charlie
Charlie, I sold over 30 books, all but four of them on Saturday. By Friday afternoon, it was so dead in the Commercial Building that all the vendors were trading. I traded a Book of Mormon (free, and I have 6 or 8 of them already) for Much Ado About Miners. But then on Saturday, my booth was so busy that the Republicans (booth on my right) started working my line. :)
DeleteThere was a county fair, small by comparison, but the Illinois State Fair...now that was amazing. I still remember the crafts,animal, good and commercial buildings were fun and huge. The rides were never ending (I watched others for even the merry-go-round made me sick)., I haven't been to any fairs since getting older, summer is my busy work season. Still I enjoyed reliving vicariously through your experience. Thank you. Doris
ReplyDeleteDoris, thanks for stopping by! I prefer the smaller fairs even though they don't have all the goodies that larger fairs do. I just love the ambience.
DeleteI sometimes miss that smaller community. It is special. Doris
DeleteJacquie,
ReplyDeleteI mean, "half my books" I hope---was still a lot? Still, glad you had a good time!
Charlie
My main purpose there was to let the folks know I had a series set in Owyhee County, and if they wanted to read fiction set in their own area, it's available. I did accomplish that. And yes, I had a fabulous time even though I'm not used to the heat. At all. I'm now a Seattle weenie in that regard.
DeleteI am glad that the Owyhee Fair and Rodeo are still going strong would hate for something else from my youth to be gone. Thanks for the pictures and reminders of our "younger selves" glad that you sold a few books and I am sure the people with the e-readers are now discovering the Owyhee county that you bring with your stories.
ReplyDeleteIt was really fun watching the 4-H kids with their animals--remember washing those critters up and getting them ready for show. We ended up wetter than our cattle. Oh, and dipping their tails in bluing and braiding them. Yep, they still do all that. A blast from the past.
DeleteI'm an old 4H-er and love fairs. Can't get anyone to go with me because I have to look at every last chicken, goat, Hereford...you name it.
ReplyDeleteOwyhee! Sounds like Hawaii, but not.
Owyhee is the original anglicized spelling of Hawaii. The county was named after 2 (or 3 depending on who tells it) fur trappers who were lost there in 1819. So yes, it does sound like Hawaii. :) We'd be great fair buddies because I love to visit all the livestock barns, but that's a yawner for most of the people I know now.
DeleteWhen I was growing up, Tacoma schools had a day off for the kids to go to the Puyallup (officially the Western Washington State) Fair, and they even handed out free passes! I don't know how that came about. I'm sure the fair officials donated the passes, figuring if the kids went, they'd have to bring along parents who would pay for their entries and besides spend much more money once they got there! But why the schools cooperated to the extent of letting the kids off school, I have no idea! And I don't remember ever once going with my mother; I think friends' parents took me along with them. Many happy memories, though. I never participated in 4-H or anything that made me a participant in the goings-on. I just ate, walked through all the livestock barns (spending most of the time with the horses!) and rode on the rides. And the fair wasn't complete unless I had both a Puyallup Fair scone, and a caramel apple! Often cotton candy too. Nutritious day!
ReplyDeleteThe fair in Homedale is a whole lot smaller than the fair in Puyallup, though. A lot smaller. The carnival consists of the mechanical bull and one other ride. Instead of scones, we have elephant ears. But of course we have caramel apples and cotton candy. Everyone's favorite is the chorizos, though.
DeleteThey still let the kids off for the first day of the Florida States Fair in Tampa. I suspect the School Board's reasoning is that the little monsters will go to the fair anyway so they may as well bow to the inevitable and declare a school holiday.
DeleteWhat a lot of fun, Jacquie! I enjoyed reading about your fair experience! We always used to go to the STATE fair, but I don't remember going to a county fair but maybe twice in my whole life. Of course, I would probably have gone more if I'd been a 4-H-er, or had anything to enter. I am so glad you got to go back and had such a good time, and great success with your books, too!
ReplyDeleteCheryl
I only went to the state fair a few times. It's held in Boise and that's 50 miles from us, plus in those days they didn't have any way for people in wheelchairs (my mom) to get around. I loved it, but it never seemed as personal and lacked the zing of the local fair. Can't exactly put my finger on it.
DeleteAnd yes, it was fun going back there in a totally different capacity. I'm definitely going to try to get there again next year!
Leaping Larry roppin fool.....
ReplyDeleteThe fair was hot, but I had a blast..... next time I am trying the deep fried snickers
Ah yes, Leapin' Larry Ropin' Fool. He put on quite a show. I've had deep-fried Twinkies but never deep-fried Snickers. It would be just my luck that I'd love it.
ReplyDeleteJacquie,
ReplyDeleteTom said it well that fairs are fairs regardless of the size. The county fair where I live now is so similar to the county fair where I grew up, just a smaller rendition. I was in 4-H, so I have all sorts of fond and not so fond memories, but I look back on my fair-going youth days with a smile. The only time I went to the Colorado State Fair was back in the days when I was a participant in the equine events. I'd bed down with my horse in his stall instead of getting a motel room. ;-)
We spent a lot of time at the fairgrounds--had to be there to feed our livestock in the early morning and of course stayed all day and as late as our folks would let us. Then we had to do chores at home. Most generally, we wouldn't get more than about 4 hours of sleep a night, but we didn't care. And we did take naps with our heifers on occasion. :)
Delete