Farm Fair

When Elizabeth Zinser, 30, of White Hall, first joined the 4-H club at 8 years old, her family only had a few dogs as pets. But that quickly changed. The Zinser family had recently packed up and moved to Pylesville from Baltimore County and Zinser's mother, Rosemary Amos, wanted her daughters to become involved with the club. "I thought it was a well - rounded thing for kids to do," Amos, 59, of Delta, Pa., said. "She was in the second grade when we moved to Harford County, and I wanted to get [she and her sister]

Temperatures in the 90s returned to Harford County Thursday and were expected through Friday, if not longer, prompting the county to take steps to protect residents. With the heat index expected to reach nearly 105 degrees on Thursday, Harford County government, in cooperation with Harford County Public Library and the Harford County Health Department, once again used local libraries as cooling centers for the public. One incident involving heat exposure was reported on the opening day of the Harford County Farm Fair in Bel Air Thursday afternoon.

While Maryland's farming acreage continues to shrink under development pressures, county farm fairs still produce a bumper crop in attendance. In fact, two of the largest agricultural fairs are held by counties considered to be more suburban than rural, Howard and Montgomery.County fairs that once served to gather the farming community for celebration have become a popular event for non-farmers to experience the unfamiliar agricultural life, another mass entertainment. Many of the fair exhibitors today, even those showing animals, don't live on traditional farms.

The weather forecast for Thursday through Sunday calls for classic Maryland summer weather: highs in the 80s and low 90s, with a chance of afternoon thunderstorms, otherwise partly cloudy to mostly sunny. In other words, just about as good as could be expected for what has become over the past quarter of a century one of Harford County's signature events, the Farm Fair. Though the county's fair tradition pre-dates the current incarnation of the Harford County Farm Fair, the event slated to open this week was organized in its early days to showcase the work of local 4-H clubs and provide an inexpensive weekend of family friendly entertainment.

Today is your last chance to get out to the annual Harford Farm Fairto enjoy the many performances and livestock. Nearly 10,000 people attended the fair's opening day, Thursday, and organizers are expecting more than 60,000 to have turned the gates by closing this evening at 5. Gates open today at 10 a.m. Today's events include the ATV and lawn garden tractor pull as well as a Civil War encampment with about 60 men dressed as soldiers. Fair admission is $3 for those 13 and older; $1 for those 7-12; and free those 7 and younger.

Pig races, duck races, terrier races, goat races, hot air balloon races. All a well-reported part of the entertainment at the eighth annual Harford County Farm Fair last weekend. But what about the kid races?I mean the races of excited youngsters through the Kidway and other small-fry attractions, trying to do as much and eat as much as their constitutions (and their free punch tickets) could endure.The village of tents with playground activities and games and fair fun food was a parent's dream as well as a child's delight.

Don't let the "farm" in Farm Fair fool you. It's not just the 4-H poultry exhibits, livestock sales and plum jelly competition they're gearing up for at the Harford County Equestrian Center.When the 1992 Harford County Farm Fair opens its four-day run on Thursday, you'll see as much evidence of county life in the 1990s as you'll see of traditional rural customs.Among the attractions: a hot air balloon race, a sky-diving demonstration and an appearance by the Virginia Giant, a lean, mean, truck-like vehicle used to smash defenseless automobiles into saucers, delighting audiences of all ages.

When the Harford County Farm Fair kicks off Thursday afternoon therewill be almost 1,000 volunteers making it happen.From the peoplewho will manage the parking lot to the fair's board of directors, who organized the dozens of entertainment and 4-H events -- all are volunteers.There's even a volunteer to manage all the volunteers: Mary Chance, who works as the volunteer coordinator for The Office On Aging.About the only workers who won't be volunteers will be police on duty for traffic and safety control.

Some people attend the Harford County Farm Fair for the animals, others for the food and games. For Norman Grafton, the attraction is something big, noisy - and definitely at home on the farm. "From the first time I went to the fair I became addicted to the fellowship of the people who participate in the antique tractor pull," said Grafton, co-chairman of the antique tractor events at the 18th annual fair, which takes place Thursday through July 31 in Bel Air. "I started out as a participant, and now I run the show.

The piglets at the Harford County Farm Fair in Bel Air may be the hams of the future but it was the announcer who was cracking the corny jokes yesterday as the young porkers crowded into the starting gate for the popular "Dash to the Mash" races.At post time the skies were clear, the temperatures cool and the track fast. Five small pigs wearing racing silks scrambled around the miniature course in the day's first heat.At the finish line they eagerly gobbled down a bowl of mash -- crushed meal and warm water -- to the delight of cheering onlookers.

There have been some rumblings in the past two or three years that moving the Harford County Farm Fair from its home since it was re-established nearly quarter of a century ago might become necessary. Certainly, the farm fair is one the more well-attended events in Harford County, with the Fourth of July festivities in Bel Air being one of the few things that's consistently a bigger draw. The farm fair is a big event and has been since it started, and it has been associated since the beginning with the Harford County Equestrian Center on Tollgate Road in Bel Air. Granted, there had been a county fair of sorts previously, but not on the scale of what's evolved at the equestrian center.

The 24th Harford County Farm Fair ended Sunday, but our coverage continues. With more than 380 young people in 4-H exhibiting their animals, the annual livestock sale and popular events like Dock Dogs, pig races, tractor pulls and a first-ever appearance by a Lone Ranger, fair officials said this year's fair had great attendance and elicited plenty of positive comments from those who braved the heat to attend one or more of the four days....

The following are the results of the 2011 Harford County 4-H Livestock Sale held at the Farm Fair on Saturday, July 30. Results are listed by animal category, and include the name of the seller first, the buyer and the price paid. Lambs Andrew Wood, The Borkoski Family, $339; Anne Maxwell, Brothers Berries, $305.10; Josiah Beichler, Brothers Berries, $297; Ashley Beichler, Dr. James and Rose Brayton, $347.10; Alisa Schaedel, Cool Rein Farm, 657.90; Emily Klein, Cows on the Loose, $472; Matthias Beichler, Charles Daughton, $201.60; Emma Stump, Charles Edwards Family, $325.50; Melissa Grimmel, Giant Rock Spring, $816.75; Maggie Holloway, Dr. Andrew and Kim Holloway, $759; Rachel Wakefield, Henry Holloway, $366.30; Taylor Dawson, Family of Robert Hooper, $648; Chelsea Dawson, Family of Robert Hooper, $625; Katie Stump, The Kelly Group, $441; Ned Maxwell, Bryan and Kathy Kelly, $257.50; Cassie Daney, Bryan and Kathy Kelly, $427; Kelly Foulk, Bryan and Kathy Kelly, $424; Emily Klein, Madonna Veterinary Clinic, $304.80; Amos Beichler, MidAtlantic Farm Credit, $297.60; Maddy Fraiji, Nelson Bus Company, $452; Amelia Beichler, Nutramax, $218.40; Maddy Fraiji, Ruff's Chance Farm, $302.40; Margaret Stump, The Mill Bel Air, $479.70; Brooke Rickey, Troyer Farms LLC, $277.20; and Anne Maxwell, Neil and Carol Helfrich, $378.

A pilot was transported to Harford Memorial Hospital in Havre de Grace late Friday afternoon for observation and treatment of non-life threatening injuries after a helicopter accident in Darlington. At about 5:30 p.m., the Harford County 911 center started getting calls about a helicopter crash in the area of the 4100 block of Conowingo Road in Darlington. Police and volunteer fire and EMS personnel from the Darlington Volunteer Fire Department responded and when they arrived they found the pilot standing outside of the wreckage of a privately-owned, small helicopter.

When Elizabeth Zinser, 30, of White Hall, first joined the 4-H club at 8 years old, her family only had a few dogs as pets. But that quickly changed. The Zinser family had recently packed up and moved to Pylesville from Baltimore County and Zinser's mother, Rosemary Amos, wanted her daughters to become involved with the club. "I thought it was a well - rounded thing for kids to do," Amos, 59, of Delta, Pa., said. "She was in the second grade when we moved to Harford County, and I wanted to get [she and her sister]

It's the time of year for folks in Harford County to ask other attractions to moo-ove over for a few days to make time for the annual Farm Fair. The event officially opens Thursday, though there has been plenty of activity so far this week at the Harford County Equestrian Center off Tollgate Road in Bel Air. From the beginning, the event's organizers have sought to keep agriculture as the core attraction of the fair, hence its name, the Harford County Farm Fair, as opposed to just the county fair.

The longest lines at the Harford County Farm Fair may form for the funnel cake, but without question, the largest crowds gather at the pig track.That's where, come post time, three groups of young pigs -- for the mash several times a day in what has become a Farm Fair tradition. They'll be at it again today, as the four-day fair winds up its 1992 run.The typical pig race lasts only 15 seconds, but it's a crowd-pleaser.Especially when the Yorkshires are running. They're the little white pigs children seem to favor.

Farm Fair week has arrived in Harford County. Although the 2011 Harford County Farm Fair doesn't officially open until Thursday morning, there is plenty being done in preparation for the event, which runs through Sunday evening at the Harford County Equestrian Center, 608 N. Tollgate Road in Bel Air. This past Sunday, the fair committee held its first ever pre-fair events at the fairgrounds on the Harford County Equestrian Center, a 5K...

As they have for 64 years, northern Baltimore County families are preparing for the annual Hereford Junior Farm Fair on Saturday, certain the event has a future but uncertain where that might be. Their longtime location at Hereford High School is about to become a parking lot for the expanding school. "Our barns will be torn down," said Kelly Wilson, the fair coordinator whose daughters are the third generation of the family to show at the event. "This is our last fair at the school, but none of us are saying this is our last fair."