Flying dogs, a pride of lions, a three wheel car. You want more? O.K., how about a cake that looks like a cat box, the boys from American Chopper, mutant vegetables, and food made using a drill? All this and more makes the Lane County Fair a bona fide ertainment hit.
First though, the story of the ribbon whore. Yes, in fact, this part is autbiographical.
I have been submitting pottery entries for the last three years. Last year, on a lark, I also submitted some beef jerky that I had made for our Costa Rica trip. Yes, after toting it all the way to Central America and back I entered it into the Adult Dried Meat competition and beat out one other competitor for the blue ribbon (last year's pottery entry, on the other hand, only garnered a third place white ribbon in the advanced section).
Well since I have a food dryer, and very few people entered the dried food categories, I decided to go all out. In addition to the beef jerky, I decided to enter dried mushrooms and dried pineapple, two categories I figured few if any would enter. When I announced my intentions to do this, Kim called me a ribbon whore, and I couldn't argue with her assessment.
In addition to the dried food, I entered a nice hand-thrown pot that I thought would do well even against stiff competition, and three photos which, though nice, I didn't figure had a chance as their are always some great photo entries.
Kim entered a felted bag, a knitted sweater, and a pair of knitted socks (see her blog for photos).
We dropped our entries off on the appropriated days, and when Tuesday rolled around, we rushed over to the fair to see our spoils.
Much to my surprise and disappointment, the dried food categories were three times as popular as they have ever been. Most of them had between seven and ten entries! My blue ribbon dreams were dashed on the hard reality of the burgeoning food-dryer market. My mushrooms garnered only a second place red ribbon, my beef jerky a third place white ribbon, and my dried pineapple an honorable mention green ribbon. Oh cruel life!
My pot, on the other had took the blue ribbon, beating out 0 (yes, zero as in none) other entrants.
My photos, as expected did not place at all.
And the entries of the woman who called me a ribbon whore...a red ribbon for her felted back, a white ribbon for her sweater, and for the socks: a special award. The ribbon has frills and an image of the state of Oregon on it.
Oh well, there's always next year.
Now onto the rest of the fair!
O.K., it's really not the guys from American Chopper, but it is their lifesize cutout images. And that's pretty exciting. The chopper is real, though. There is some win-a-chopper lottery game on right now and you could get your picture taken with the the motorcycle and the cutouts. We passed on this opportunity.
The driver sits in the front and the passenger sits behind. Rear-engine fueled by propane. The inventor claims it gets 70 mpg. Very cool.
Fun and tastefully decorated. Unlike certain other baked goods.
As if you really needed the scoop to clue you in. If you think it looks disgusting here, you should have seen it in person. Amazing what you can do with chopped nuts and carmel. It is kind of funny, though.
A hand-felted sculpture. Very cool.
The Cabela's Dock Dog competition was really fun. Contestants ranged from those who were too timid to jump without encouragement to those who flew over 20 feet. One 10-year-old dog that had had a knee replacement made 19 1/2 feet!
A little girl on a BIG horse. She won a blue ribbon!
Food just tastes better when it's prepared with power tools!
The result: half a cubic foot of curly fries.
I can hardly wait until next year!
Sunday, August 20, 2006
Saturday, August 12, 2006
The Scandinavian Festival, Junction City, OR
What struck me most about this festival was the broad range of authentic Scandinavian food. I had no idea their cuisine included such a wide variety of delicacies!
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