County fair

Fair week

This is County Fair week and lots of activities are paused to focus on the fair. In the 4H hall the dioramas were perhaps the most popular exhibit.

Bob's Bumpy Barrels were popular during the first days of the fair but disappeared late in the week.

During the day people could watch a wood carver make things with a chainsaw.

The area in front of the fair office was nicely decorated with flowers. There is a tremendous amount of work involved in putting on the fair, something that people who have never been involved in organizing an event might not appreciate.

The south end of the fairgrounds is where the horse people hang out. It is a bit of a world unto itself.

The sheep look like they are ready for a fashion show.

Perhaps the oddest booth in the Commercial Building was a toilet-paper toss.

I always like seeing the tractors. Two of my uncles and a grandfather were in the farm implement business and sold John Deere equipment. Perhaps they even sold tractors as old as this one, which is a 1931 model. (I did not inherit their mechanical abilities.)

There seem to be more food vendors than usual at the fair this year.

Notes

The exterior of the new EMS building is almost finished.

Paving of College Avenue is underway.

The path along Lincoln Street now is finished at the entrance to the lift station and the rest has been seal-coated.

I meant to attend the ribbon cutting for the Dave Day basketball and tennis courts on Monday but was distracted and forgot. The Rensselaer Republican has pictures and a story. I will try to remember the ribbon cutting for the Rensselaer Schools first electric bus on August 7 at 2:00.

I had heard rumors that Dollar Tree was planning a move to the former Walgreen store. This week's Rensselaer Republican says that the rumor is true.

The crop dusters are flying in and out of the airport, but there seems to be less activity this year than in past years. Helicopter rides have replaced the biplane rides from the past few years.

I spoke too soon about Japanese beetles. They are back, but do not seem to be as bad as some previous years.

The rains in the past few weeks have greened lawns and made grass grow on the ground disturbed by the construction of the new lift station.