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Sunday, August 29, 2010

It's Fair time!

Every year in August, the Fair comes to Hudsonville. This is the town I grew up in and I have great memories of going to the fair as a child.
Our school had a food tent, that Mom would work in every year, and we would get to eat there on the night we went. Of course, us kids were more interested in the rides, than the food.
Dad loved looking at the animals and going to the tractor pulls, and it seemed that he knew every other person there. That meant lots of waiting while he talked!
Last week we went to the Fair, and many things remain the same.

There are lots of rides and the kids are still enjoying them!


This is a new exhibit. It's the traveling Vietnam war memorial. It was touching to see the many names on the wall.


There are still lots of animals..
the cows...


some donkeys..


Lots of donkeys, including some Clydesdale's. You can't tell in this picture, but they are huge!
We also saw goats, Alpacas, rabbits and chickens.


Of course there were lots of tractors to look at. Some of them were huge!


The tires on this one were taller than me!

We did run into some people we knew - not as many as my Dad used to, but we had a good time talking!



And what is the best way to end a night at the Fair? By eating an Elephant Ear of course!

18 comments:

Karin said...

One of our staff always made those elephant ears for special summer festivals held at our nursing home! Yum and our residents LOVED them - always reminded them of country fairs! Somehow they've stopped doing that and I sure miss it!!

Country Wings in Phoenix said...

Oh Mari Sweetie...
What a swell time I had at the Fair with you this evening. I could hear all the sounds of the rides, the kids screams and the laughter, the barters drawing us over to a game. Oh my gosh, I could smell the elephant ears cooking, cotton candy, and so many wonderful unknowns. I loved the animals. With my asthma this is as close as I will get to them now a days, but I love that Clydsdale, what a beauty.

Oh and the John Deere's LOVE it. I am a sucker for a tractor and especially a John Deere. Love John Deere anything.

Oh sweetie I have had so much fun. Thank you for sharing with me.

Many hugs and so much love, Sherry

Pat said...

What fun and sweet memories. Would you believe I've never had an Elephant Ear? I think it's high time I did!
Hey, is this the same Hudsonville as that wonderful Hudsonville Ice Cream? That is the BEST ice cream ever!

Connie said...

We didn't make it to the fair this year. Too many other things going on. Put looking at your pictures I'm beginning to miss it. Listening to your words made me feel like I was there with you.

Aspiemom said...

It's so relaxing to go to a fair! I actually don't care for elephant ears, but I love cotton candy!

Mrs. Mac said...

We just went to the fair yesterday. I enjoyed the quilt show and the K-9 police dog demonstration. Did your fair offer deep fried pickles (lol) ... just wondering. You have several nice blogs ... and your recipes are always good looking. Will have to try the Japanese Chicken Salad ... our cabbage is finally ready to pick from the garden.

;) said...

Wow! pretty good time!!

Growin' With It said...

Oh how I miss our ol' county fair back in Oregon! And laugh at remembering our boys' confusion when we ranted and raved on our way in about getting an elephant ear to scarf down first.

Betty W said...

Elephant Ears? What is it? I can´t tell from the picture. Something to eat. What is it made of? Sounds good.
I love country fairs and your looks fun.

Jenny said...

ACK. I hate fairs.

Raise Them Up said...

Elephant ears must be a midwest thing. Someone had to tell me what they were when we moved here. Back east, we called something similar funnel cakes.

Your pictures are great! I love Clydesdales!

Kim said...

I am SO salivating over that elephant ear! :) Love those things and can hardly wait until next year when we'll be stateside for our county fair!

Anonymous said...

I loved the fair as a kid too. Funny, once I had kids I hated it. I guess hauling three kids there and shelling out an arm and a leg for rides took the fun away.

You almost make the fair look fun again!

Oh, and it's not hard to find something taller than you. ;-)

septembermom said...

I need to try an elephant ear one day. I have to get to a fair soon. My family would love it!

Unknown said...

More amazing images. Just beautiful.

Kayren said...

Never eaten an elephant ear, or even heard of one. There's a plant by that name I think. I saw the donkey picture and had to laugh because I just trimmed our little rose bushes to shape them. They'd gone crazy after we treated them for bugs earlier in the summer. Jonathan called one of them his pet donkey because it looked like it had a head on one side it was so much bigger and stuck up and out. I had to cut it off (trim all of them) when he wasn't around to notice.

Cherdecor said...

I loved fairs when I was a kid. I bet you had a good time especially while meeting people you knew.

Cherdecor said...
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