Howard County Fair

The 54th annual Howard County Fair will include a larger space for its growing number of sheep and goat entries and an expanded number of categories for one of its most successful competitions: an apple pie contest, fair officials announced yesterday.The fair, which will run from Aug. 7 to 14, is expected to draw about 150,000 visitors. It will include contests for cattle, horses, sheep, goats, pigs and crafts, and rides and activities at the fairgrounds' West Friendship site.About half of the approximately 1,500 entries will be 4-H projects.

IT WOULDN'T be summer without a trip to the Howard County Fair.The fair, in its 53rd year, marks the unofficial end of summer for Howard County students and their parents.The fair is open for business from 8 a.m. to 11 p.m. Saturday through Aug. 22, ending two days before school begins.F. Grant Hill, president of Howard County Fair Association Inc., calls the event "one of the finest and most unique fairs in the state.""Our fair features agricultural and commercial exhibits, musical entertainment, old-fashioned contests, midway rides and grand parades," he said.

The Howard County Fair sits almost midway between an event that resembles its past and another that could signal its future.To the north in Westminster, the Carroll County Fair remains an agriculture exposition -- there are no rides and no admission charges. To the south, the Montgomery County Agricultural Fair will hold a stunt car show and a demolition derby as part of its extensive entertainment this September.The Howard County Fair sprouted from an agrarian community, a place for farmers to show off their crops and livestock.

Every morning, Heather Carroll, 8, tramps across her front yard in Ellicott City, enters a large pen and feeds her pets -- Brownie the steer and Rose the calf.Like many Howard County youngsters, Heather is raising livestock for the Howard County Fair, which will be held Aug. 15 to 22. At the fair, the fourth-grader will parade Brownie and Rose around a ring, square their hoofs, show off their hides and tweak them with a show stick, while always smiling.She hopes to be awarded a winner's purple ribbon -- then say goodbye.

Looking like a determined platoon, three nannies and their six charges marched toward the horse ring at the Howard County Fair yesterday morning."It's something different to do with them," said Audra Schlossnagle, 22, of Elkridge as she looked after a 1-year-old. "This is nice. It's easier, fewer people, and it's before nap time."The crowds are small in the mornings at the Howard County Fair, which ends its eight-day run at its West Friendship fairgrounds Saturday. But the placid appearance before the midway opens and hordes of suburbanites arrive for rides and games is deceiving -- hard work is going on."

Brigid Smith did a little dance after winning the cow-milking contest yesterday at the Howard County Fair.The Catonsville resident had never touched a cow before but knew what it took to win -- just squirt the milk into the bucket."

THE ANNUAL Howard County Fair is a pleasant reminder that agriculture remains alive in the fast-growing jurisdiction where large chunks of farmland increasingly have given way to suburbia.Every year, farmers from Howard and neighboring counties assemble at the county fairgrounds in West Friendship to display with pride their best cattle, pigs, goats and sheep. Young 4-H Club members, some elementary-school age, show their ability to handle farm animals that are several times their weight.

THE HOWARD County Fair is a festival, a competition, a place to learn about agriculture, a marketplace and a forum. It is also an exhibition and a wonderfully informal social gathering.On Saturday, midway rides and concessions open. Exhibitors bring their animals, plants, baked goods, crafts and much more for judging and display. Judges begin to award ribbons.On Sunday, grand opening day, you can see contests all day and enjoy a parade at 2 p.m. Stay for more contests and attractions such as a precision performance by the Spur and Stirrup Club's 22-member Mounted Drill Team at 6: 30 p.m. and 7: 30 p.m. Joan Bosmans coaches this group.

Good thing F. Grant Hill had on comfortable walking shoes.A crush of parents and babies in strollers forced Hill, who has a golf cart at his disposal, to walk almost as much as he drove around the 52nd Howard County Fair yesterday."

Good thing F. Grant Hill had on comfortable walking shoes.A crush of parents and babies in strollers forced Hill, who has a golf cart at his disposal, to walk almost as much as he drove around the 52nd Howard County Fair yesterday."

As the Howard County Fair celebrates its 64th season this year, it still puts the emphasis on farming and a simpler way of life. "We strive very hard to maintain our agricultural roots," said H. Mitchell Day, fair association president. "Children born here now don't have as much opportunity to know about farming firsthand." At the fair, which started Saturday and continues through this coming Saturday, there will be a wealth of shows with horses, ponies, sheep, rabbits, cattle, mules, swine and goats, as well as dogs and other pets.

Competitions, both serious and silly, are as much a part of the Howard County Fair as funnel cakes and Ferris wheels. From prettiest animal to fastest pie-eater, new winners are crowned every day. And watching can be nearly as much fun as competing. Winning milkmaid To celebrate the 25th annual Cow-Milking Contest, organizers Charles and Judy Iager did something different this year. Normally, they invite members of the audience to try their hands at pulling milk from the patient bovine participants.

At the Howard County Fair, it seems as though every third person is sporting a bright-green 4-H T-shirt. Teens wearing the shirts are showing off their pigs and goats. Adults are keeping an eye on their children or hovering near the animal stalls. Though farms and farming families have declined over the decades in Howard County, the 4-H Club is alive and well. The county organization has about 650 members, a number that has stayed constant over the years, said Sheryl Burdette, the 4-H extension coordinator.

For most of the year, the fair office on the Howard County Fairgrounds sits empty. But on Monday that changed when Bettina Catalano bustled in. The 62-year-old grandmother has been secretary and treasurer of the Howard County Fair Association for the past 12 years. She brushed off her desk, checked to make sure her pens and other supplies were still in the drawers and got to work. "There was dust all over," she said. During fair season, Catalano is so busy that she hardly has time to enjoy the fair's old-fashioned pleasures, though she does stop by the dining hall most days for a roast beef special, she said.

Spinning rides, exciting entertainers, friendly farm animals and deep-fried foods draw visitors to the Howard County Fair every year, but Fair Association President John Fleishell said one thing ultimately helped attract more than 100,000 visitors from Aug. 5 through Saturday. "We were blessed with good weather," he said. A break from the previous week's heat wave was welcome at the event, where temperatures in the 80s and little rain helped boost attendance over last year. The fair does not calculate overall attendance because the entry gate does not count free passes, free admission for children and days when senior citizens and members of the military are not charged.

FESTIVAL WORLD CULTURE Celebrate world cultures at the 10th annual International Festival this weekend at the Poly-Western Complex. Major recording artists, a grand parade, an international soccer competition, singers, dancers and performers from around the globe and more will be featured at the festival. Some 26 local, national and international performers will entertain on four stages. National musical acts will include Ashford and Simpson, Cyril Neville and Tribe 13, Average White Band and Steve Forbert.

Mules may be known for their stubbornness, but Brice Ridgely's two mules, Abe and Charlie, proved to be excellent sports this week at the Howard County Fair. The team, from Cooksville, dragged more than a ton more than 10 feet Tuesday in a steady drizzle. The rain put a damper on the Howard County Fair's first mule-pulling contest - Ridgley's team was the only one that made it to the fairgrounds out of six that were expected. But more than 60 spectators applauded a demonstration of the animals' strength.

How to keep score On the giant board at Camden Yards, the score of the game isn't the only number in lights. There are numbers of runs, the percentages of outs to hits and lots of other statistics. But how do those numbers get there? Saturday, come find out what all those numbers mean at the "Scoring Made Official" program at the Sports Legends at Camden Yards museum. The museum will host Jim Henneman, lead official scorer at Camden Yards and former president of the Baseball Writers Association of America.

TODAY Committee to vote on hotel The Baltimore City Council's committee of the whole will vote on convention center hotel legislation at 1:30 p.m. in the Curran Conference Room on the fourth floor of City Hall, 100 N. Holliday St. If approved by the committee, the bills are expected to be considered by the full City Council on Aug. 15. Glen Burnie carnival The Big Glen Burnie Carnival will be open from 7 p.m. to 11 p.m. today through Friday and from...

POLITICIANS ALWAYS see the Howard County Fair as an opportunity to meet the public, and this year's event, starting Friday night, is no exception. Democrats and Republicans will have booths advertising their causes and candidates, and two Republicans have rented individual booths. But you won't find candidates roaming the grounds handing out literature. "We don't allow solicitations on the midway, whether they're giving away Sunpapers or coolers," said Dick Mettee, fairgrounds general manager.