Wednesday, August 21, 2013

Our State Fair is a Great State Fair!

         "Our State Fair is a great state fair
           Don't miss it don't even be late
           (our state fair is great)
           It's dollars to doughnuts at our state fair
           It's the best state fair in the state."

Any of you Rodgers & Hammerstein fans are probably acquainted with the musical/movie State Fair.  How many of you knew that it was written about the Iowa State Fair??  Yup!  A fair is a fair, right?  Wrong!

The Iowa State Fair is the best state fair not only in the state, but in the land!  There is tons of entertainment, tons of great food, tons of culture.  And everything you ever wanted is available on a stick!  The Iowa Pork Producers are there with their fantabulous pork chops, there is the world's biggest bull, ginormous pumpkins, a cow chip throwing contest, and of course, the pièce de résistance, the butter cow!*

I have been to the State Fair probably 26 of the last 32 years.  I'm always a little sad if I miss it.  For me, it holds lots of memories of people and places, and bits of my childhood.  It's a part of me, and I think that a lot of Iowans might say the same.  It's something deeply ingrained in the heart, something that fills your heart with pride of being born and bred in the heartland--a place which is still a little bit in the past, when times were simpler, family was important, and kids were allowed to just be kids.  It's a place where people come together for sweet corn and fried catfish, or in times of disaster to help a neighbor in need, even if that neighbor is two towns over.

Yes, there is something about Iowa...I may not always live here, but it will always be my home, and to me, the State Fair is a culmination of all that is Iowa.  I can understand what brought people to the plains--what great beauty there must have been in the rolling, green hills, crisp streams, powerful rivers, and then the amber waves of grain.  What a sight!

Iowa, people may make fun of you, may think your offspring are dull, but you are my mother, my home, and my heart will always remain here, especially in August, during the time of the Fair.



Because I had only been off crutches for two days, I did the fair scooter style this year!


*Some really stupid animal rights people poured red paint on the butter cow this year--I don't think they gained any supporters.  And the Fair had the last word with Butter Cow Security T-Shirts!

Pork Chop on a Stick...'nuff said.



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