The folks who run the Howard County Fair are counting the days - less than a month remains - until the annual farm festival floods the West Friendship fairgrounds with animals, 4-H projects and tens of thousands of people for a week.
Nearly everything about this year's fair will be familiar, they say, a striking contrast to the fast-developing county, where change seems inevitable.
In a preview at the fairgrounds yesterday, the fair board showcased the same cow-milking, pie-eating and pretty-animal contests; the same competitions for the best livestock, capped by an auction; even some of the same carnival rides, food vendors and musicians as in times past.
One of the barns was replaced this year for the 56th edition of the fair - but, the event's directors were quick to note, the new structure doesn't look much different.
No one's complaining. That's what the regulars expect.
"It's like going home," explained Darlene Bouma, organizational leader of the Dayton 4-H Club, whose five children grew up going to the fair.
Tradition will provide a comforting backdrop for the nervousness and uncertainty of competition, as local farmers and 4-H members show off their animals and skills from Aug. 4 through 11. It also underscores the festival's purpose, celebrating and keeping alive the area's deep agricultural roots.
Farmland has receded as people clamor for new homes in Howard, but agriculture, the farm board points out, is not passe here.
Volunteers to pitch in
More than 1,000 volunteers will help with preparation and operations at this year's fair - from repainting the show pavilion to taking tickets.
Howard County 4-H members have signed up to show more than 550 market animals: steers, lambs, pigs and goats.
Teen-agers will compete for the coveted title of Farm Queen.
Visitors - more than 100,000 generally come each year - can watch threshing demonstrations, barrel racing, cake decorating and dozens of other events.
Some new touches
The fair will include a few new things this year. Organizers are building a roof in the style of a barn over the ticket stalls as an eye-catching entrance. The Howard County Cooperative Extension is bringing in a black-light tent that will show people how germs get washed off their hands. For the first time, 4-H'ers registered over the Internet.
Next year, said fair board President Mickey Day, organizers will replace the horse rings and stands and the rest of the barns.
Board members had debated the idea of tearing down all six barns and building a huge replacement, but the old style beat out new and improved. "There's a lot to be said about the traditional farm look," Day said.
Longtime fare
Tables set up around the fairgrounds' dining hall yesterday offered samples of other longtime fare, from 4-H woodworking projects to canned fruit and cross-stitch. Caragh Fitzgerald, the cooperative extension's agriculture and national resources educator, stood beside locally grown vegetables and explained what judges look for: a collection of clean produce with an even color and size, all fresh. (Bruises are a no-no.)
Rhythms of farm life
Fitzgerald thinks the fair's customs offer newcomers a way in, an opportunity to step into the annual rhythms of Howard's farming community.
Madeleine Greene, a fellow extension educator, sees in the long-standing events a validation of hard work and "old-fashioned fun."
"I think some of these traditions are worth preserving," she said.
