Images from the fair

There are so many things going on at the Jasper County Fair each day that you can only see some of them. Here are some of the things that I have seen that perhaps you missed.

The queen and her court are very busy. Whenever something is being judged, they are there handing out ribbons. They were posing for a photographer below, so I also snapped a picture. (I wonder if they get paid for all their work.)
I saw them one morning at the judging of dairy cows. While the dairy judging was going on, goats were being judged in the other half of the show arena, and they were handing out ribbons there, too.
On another morning they were up early to catch the judging of the pigs. I tried to listen to the livestock judges, but I have no idea of why one cow, goat, or pig is better than another cow, goat, or pig.
Below is a picture of the most impressive of the carnival rides before it was assembled.
In addition to various rides, there are carnival games. The prizes they display are very colorful.
I am impressed with how many campers are in the campgrounds. This is the south campground from the grandstand. The north campground seems to be as big. Each campground has a playground. The south campground, which is by the horse arena, has some very clever swings and the kids seem to really like them.
The horse arena is a world of its own, with programs that start early and go late. Here were some riders getting ready for one of the many competitions.
There are interesting signs around the fairgrounds. The one below was at the horse arena. It says that if you get hurt, you cannot sue.
There are also some "Did you know?" signs. Did you know that the brown spot on the soybean is called the hylem? I did not. Why would you want to know that?I also did not know that asphalt could be made from cattle. If you are driving on a road made from cattle-derived asphalt, could you say you were on a cattle drive?
On Wednesday night I stopped and talked to Jake Chapman, who has a booth in the commercial tent. Last year he decided to quit his job at St. Joe's and to launch a business. He helps high school baseball players (and now softball players) who want to play their sport in college find a match. You can see what he is doing at showcaseu.com. The idea is that except for the elite few, most coaches do not know much about the high school pool, and that the vast majority of players must do some marketing. Chapman helps them do that marketing (showcasing), in part by telling them that they need to do that marketing and cannot just sit back and wait for people to contact them (i.e., they need to showcase themselves, hence Showcase U).

I do not know if people in small towns like Rensseler realize how much the Internet opens up the world for them and reduces the disadvantages of living away from the big city. In the days before the Internet, I doubt if Chapman could do what he is doing. The Internet has drastically cut the cost of moving information.