It was sweltering hot last Tuesday evening when we dumped out the change jar and harvested quarters and half-dollars for our annual trip to the Bingo hall at the Potter County Fair.
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| Potter County Fair, circa 1947 |
The county fair sets up late summer in the little village of Millport and that wide spot in the road to Olean bustles for a few days. The Potter County Fair publicity boasts that this is the 89th year, though it seems like only yesterday that I worked on putting together a tabloid section for The Potter County Leader dubbed "50 Years At The Fair".
Tuesday is the day Tri-County Rural Electric Cooperative offers its members $25 in food vouchers and a free gift - an insulated re-useable shopping bag. There's also a chance to win other gifts like a flat screen tv. Once I won a slow cooker that I still use, though the handle on the lid broke off. Now there's a big wooden handle, crafted by Arthur who loves to solve small problems with flamboyant fixes.
We stood in long lines in the sweaty sunshine to get our hot dogs and sausage sandwiches, nearly everyone around us clutching their stack of Tri County vouchers. We saved just enough vouchers to buy two milkshakes - maple with real Potter County maple syrup - from the 4-H stand.
There was music - a band with guitars and drums covering recognizable rock and roll tunes from decades ago - in the pavilion and workers were setting up for an auction where fair organizers sell the entries in the baked goods categories to the highest bidder, all missing a piece or two carved out by the judges. Long tables in front of the stage as the band played on.
We walked through the horse barn, watched kids practicing their skills in the arena and bought a chance on the 4-H rabbit raffle during our quick walk through the goat and sheep barn. The kids decorate the stalls, some quite elaborately with streamers and pictures and even curtains.
The 4-H building has been on the grounds for years and it's where the clubs from around the county display their work behind chicken wire so no one makes off with the quilts and woodworking and crafts and this year, tie dyed garments. I appreciate the work those youngsters do year after year, complete with project books to record their data. My year with 4-H in Gladys Simons' cooking class brought me a recipe for tuna noodle casserole I still use.
Someone had provided a bucket of sidewalk chalk with a sign encouraging us to share our favorite parts of the fair and though it was early in the week, already some had shared hastily-drawn flowers or autographs.
Then it was on to the commercial building and a visit with Linda and Carl Klingaman, manning the booth sponsored by Potter County Democrats. Potter County is bright red on the political spectrum and each year as long as I've been involved, there is debate at meetings of the Potter County Dems along about spring. Should we or should we not have a booth at the Fair? This year, the answer was yes and calls went out to volunteers to staff during late-afternoon and evening hours. It was a good-looking booth with tables to display t-shirts for sale and flyers touting the Democratic candidates, giveaways and a survey card to fill out to discover the issues that matter most to local voters. Linda's a high school classmate of mine and she's County Chairperson, working tirelessly to advance the cause of democracy.
While most of the folks avert their eyes as they pass by the booth and fasten their attention on the Rada cutlery right next door, there are a few who stop and surreptitiously slip a couple of bucks in the donation jar or engage in conversation of a friendly nature.
And then there are the others. Linda related having found a Bible (actually a New Testament that was being distributed by the Gideons over in the next building) awaiting her on the table. It was face down, opened to a circled text from one of Paul's letters to Timothy. And the next day, there was another New Testament, face down, with another text circled. The guys at the Gideon table (and it's only men who are allowed to join - women are not welcome except as Auxiliary) pointed out that they have no control over what folks who accept the gift of scripture might do with those little volumes.
Both Linda and I thought the admonishment in the circled texts could well describe the kind of 'leader' we have been handed in the election of Donald Trump – the kind of leader who might be described in Matthew 7: “ False prophets. They come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves." or in Paul's letter to the Romans: "For such people are not serving our Lord Christ, but their own appetites. By smooth talk and flattery they deceive the minds of naive people."
Then it was on to the Bingo building where you can buy a double card for 50 cents and split the jackpot with the house if you win. But first, I retraced my steps to the 4-H building and grabbed a fresh blue chalk stick and found my spot to letter "POTTER COUNTY DEMS" in big bold letters.
(Once again, I am sharing from my writing practice. The prompt from which this flowed was "County Fair" and I wrote this today (Monday, August 4).
