A Fairly Fantastic Day at the Santa Cruz County Fair

This is an update to the blog  which was posted on Aug. 23, 2012

Can you believe it? The Santa Cruz County Fair has arrived and is upon us, and it might be nothing but a fond and distant memory by the time you read this. 

As I said in my previous posts, for the first time ever in my entire life, I entered exhibits into the Santa Cruz County Fair this year. I had plans of the grandest kind to enter photos, canned pears, and the wonderful Apple Pie Contest.  But, things don’t always work out as planned. Let me tell you first what I didn’t do.  I didn’t enter my canned goods or the Apple Pie Contest, sadly enough. For the canned goods, I made an executive decision. I wanted them to be better. The truth is, I wasn’t very happy with my selection this year and I think I can do a better job next year.  I have been canning for many years, but some years are better than others. As for the Apple Pie Contest, well that is another story. I was set and ready, trying to figure out which of my two family-favorite recipes would be best.  But then life intervened, and as it turned out, I couldn’t be there at the in the morning that I needed to turn in my pie.  Oh well, there is always next year and I will be there, just wait and see! With two family-favorite recipes, it looks like I will be there for at least the next two years.

Instead, I decided to have my own contest here at my house. I will make both pies and everyone can vote on their favorite. That will be the one I enter into the contest next year.

But all is not lost; I am not a complete loser. What I did enter were three of my photos. But let me tell you a little back story on these first. I made a big mistake of thinking I could make my own mat boards. EEK!  A friend of mine who has been doing this for a long time offered to show me how. Her mats come out lovely. For my first try (the night before the fair, no doubt) they turned out like... well they turned out looking like they were my first try and that is putting it nicely. Luckily, they worked though they are far from perfect. I also couldn’t remember the sizes of the photos that people generally entered, so I stuck with the safe 8X10 size. I should have enlarged them, and next year I will do that. Notice I said “next year” because if there is one thing I am hooked on, it is photography and now we can add “entering photos into the fair” as the newest thing on that list.

But, now here is the good news, despite my framing and my sizing issues, I still won an “Honorable Mention” ribbon for one of my photos. That is a great honor considering the many outstanding photos that were entered in the Fair this year. I still came out a winner, and I am thrilled beyond belief. Have you seen all the photo entries? We have incredibly talented photographers in our area. I often post photos on my blog, and photography is my thing. I take all of my photos with a regular digital camera, but my goal this year is to get a DSLR camera for my favorite hobby and for my journalism interests.  I will attach photo entries to this blog post.

I mentioned in a previous post that I have always wanted to enter pumpkins into the fair, but we no longer live in an area where I can grow them. It dawned on me one day that I can still do that, despite not having enough sunlight on my forest property.  I can enter pumpkins by way of photographs!  I was hoping to do that this year, but it was before pumpkin season and the photos I had were not good enough for entries. But, just wait until next year. I will get some fun and creative pumpkin shots this fall.   

My daughter entered an exhibit for the first time this year, too. She entered her Monster High Doll collection, and she won even won a blue ribbon. The look on her face when she saw her ribbon was priceless. If you read this before the Fair ends, stop by to see her display. If not, then being the photographer that I am, you will find one on this blog. So what did we think of our first year entering into the fair? In a nutshell, I don’t think there will ever be another year that she and I won’t enter. We are sold; hook, line and sinker.

If it isn’t too late, I highly recommend that you go. The Fair showcases the best of Santa Cruz County and you will have a great time. Make sure you check out all the exhibits and the incredible fine artwork, agriculture, collections, home arts, 4-H, Girl Scouts, trains, photography, school panels for our local schools and much more from our talented citizens. The animals are wonderful, the pig races are fun and the horticulture is fabulous. You can’t go wrong.

But my daughter’s favorite thing of all is the robot.  Look for her walking through the fair, and she will stop and talk to you. Her name is Berry, and she is sponsored by Driscoll’s.

 Did you go to the Fair this year? Tell us what you did or saw, and let us know what you think!

I will be participating again next year.  Just wait and see! Wild horse, pigs or chickens (or crooked mat boards) couldn’t keep me away.