Tag Archives: Fair

Pick a little, talk a little, cheep-cheep-cheep

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After watching last Saturday night’s performance of “The Music Man” at Worthington’s Memorial Auditorium, I can’t seem to get the “Pick a little, talk a little, cheep-cheep-cheep” song out of my head!

Standing outside the bright orange fence surrounding the 4-H dog show’s agility course Monday morning … “Pick a little, talk a little, cheep-cheep-cheep.”

Trying to come up with a lead for a story at my desk on Tuesday afternoon … “Pick a little, talk a little, cheep-cheep-cheep.”

Standing in line at the 4-H Food Stand Thursday afternoon … “Pick a little, talk a little, cheep-cheep-cheep.”

By now, you probably have the chant chugging along like a choo-choo train through your brain. I’m sorry.

Let me just say … “Pick a little, talk a little, pick a little, talk a little, cheep-cheep-cheep, talk a lot, pick a little more.”

There, now I think it is out of my system!

In all seriousness, many kudos to the men and women, boys and girls who spent countless hours of their summer learning the lines and the lyrics to create such a wonderful show.

I had no idea Nobles County Library Director Julie Wellnitz, aka Marian the Librarian, had such a wonderful singing voice; nor did I know that Colin O’Donnell, whose family lives just a couple of miles away from the farm where I grew up, has an uncanny knack for playing the role of Harold Hill. And little Riley Widboom as Winthrop, well, he made my mom and me laugh with his incredibly well-practiced lisp.

The cast will perform three more shows this weekend, starting tonight and ending with a matinee on Sunday.

Also this weekend, of course, is the Nobles County Fair.

For the first time ever, I went to Wednesday night’s NTPA Nationals and the two words I must remember for next year are: “Ear Plugs.” Holy smokes, did it get loud! I feared having to say “huh?” and “what?” during my string of interviews Thursday afternoon while talking with 4-H poultry exhibitors, so I used my trusty recorder for playback.

The tractor and truck pulling event drew a huge crowd and, all in all, I’d have to say it was fair — an International won the first round, and a John Deere won the second. I guess that little John Deere-loving Godson of mine has taught me when it comes to tractor colors we all have to compromise sometimes! (That said, I need to find some Case-IH garb to wear next year if the pullers return!) It’s all in fun, right?

Fun is the name of the game when it comes to Fair Week in Nobles County. I’m not sure if our fair coverage can be considered work or play —it’s likely a little bit of both.

Thursday morning I gave my cousin’s boy a high-five for his big purple ribbon on a photo; and that was after getting just a little bit wet standing too close to the wash rack as I photographed about half a dozen dairy cows and calves getting a shower before the dairy show. We will be posting some photo and video galleries at www.dglobe.com in the coming days of our county fair experiences.

I also hope you will come out to the fair and experience it for yourself. There are lots of animals to see and projects to admire, great fair foods to sample and a few more grandstand shows, including races Saturday and Sunday night. Just remember your ear plugs … that way you can sing, “Pick a little, talk a little, cheep-cheep-cheep!”

Fair days are a’comin

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Just like the Little Engine that Could, I’ve been chanting the words, “I think I can, I think I can,” for the past few days as the 2012 Nobles County Fair gets closer. 4-H Entry Day is just a week away.

I’m sure I’m not the only one working against a deadline. The difference is, most of those stressing out right about now are 4-H’ers — those kids ages 6 to 19 that bring all of their wonderful projects to display and “make the fair go ’round.”

I’m just a little older than they are. (Hey — no need to laugh out loud!)

Every year I do this. I wait until about the middle of June and then realize I have less than a couple of months to get something stitched up and ready to enter in the open class needlework division at the Nobles County Fair.

Fortunately, I seem to always have a selection of UFO’s (unfinished objects) that I can select from and manage to finish by Entry Day. This year was no exception. After putting the final stitches on a Hardanger runner last week, I decided I might actually have time to finish another project.

So, Friday night, I discovered in my stash of UFOs a doily I started more than five years ago. (Don’t ask me why I quit working on it. Most needleworkers have to have multiple projects going at any one time so as not to get “bored.”)

By the time you read this, I will have moved on to the “wrapping” —the last stage before the ever-stressful process of cutting out the doily. One wrong move or slip of the scissors and this piece could easily end up in the wastebasket.

My stitching projects for the open class competition seem far less stressful than were my days as a 4-H’er, when I had a handful of goats to train and clip, pairs of  chickens and turkeys to wash and fluff and at least half a dozen “non-livestock” projects to complete before Entry Day.

Then again, I’m not sure stress was quite the accurate word for those pre-fair tasks. There was the excitement, the anticipation …

Hmmm, I think that’s what I’m feeling now.

Oh, I love the county fair!

Remembering Andrea

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For those of you Farm Bleat readers who also read the Daily Globe, today’s edition features a story about Andrea Ruesch, a former Worthingtonian who died suddenly on Sunday at the age of 37. She was two years younger than me … graduated with my younger brother, in fact.

Like everyone who knew her, I struggle to understand why something like this happens. She was too young to die. She had too much to look forward to. She had great things yet to accomplish.

Why? Why now?

As I was talking to my Mom last night over the telephone, I believe I asked that very question. Mom reminded me of a time, not so long ago, when a cousin of mine lost his wife to cancer and was left to raise their three young children. Why did she have to die? As Christians, we tell ourselves that God simply needed them in Heaven for something so much more special. Still, I have trouble trying to understand something like this. I guess that makes me human.

I don’t want this to be a sad blog post, even though the tears are streaming down my face as I write this. I want to tell you about the Andrea I will always remember.

Andrea and I grew up in the Nobles County 4-H program. She was a member of the Lorain Livewires, and I was an Ocheda Beaver. We served together as county 4-H Ambassadors, we showed livestock and poultry at the State Fair, we represented the county at the state-wide Junior Leadership Conference (JLC) and traveled together on Citizenship Washington Focus and the 4-H Interstate Exchange program between Nobles County and Shenandoah County, Va.

We even had the same dream of becoming 4-H Extension agents some day. Her dream came true. Mine didn’t. She helped the children of southwest Minnesota grow into confident leaders, whereas it’s been part of my job to share with readers the wonderful stories of 4-H and its impact on our youths.

Andrea, well … she was the perfect fit for the 4-H program. For as far back as I can remember, she never once hesitated to get up in front of a group and be her silly little self. I still smile when I think of the times she was in charge of recreation at a 4-H Federation meeting and went to the front of the room to start us out in a silly song of "Hi, my name is Joe … and I work in a button factory. The other day, my boss came up to me, and he said, ‘Hi Joe, are you busy?’ and I said, ‘No.’"

The song is filled with actions that many in the 4-H world may still be able to act out today. Andrea had the actions down pat.

I think her favorite 4-H song was Singin’ in the Rain, and watching her sing and act it out, well, it just made us all laugh.

Actually, my favorite memory of Andrea is about her and her ducks that she showed at the Nobles County Fair.

Andrea’s ducks were always so clean … and there is a good story behind it.

We were competitors in the poultry show … more so in the showmanship contest. I showed turkeys and chickens, Andrea showed her ducks … and she was determined that they be the cleanest, shiniest ducks in the pen.

One year, as we were working to get our birds ready for the show, Andrea pulled out a toothbrush and started to tell us about how she brushed her ducks’ teeth. Her eyes lit up and a smile filled her face as she held a duck firmly in her arms and coaxed its bill open with the toothbrush.

It was the funniest thing I had ever seen.

I was sharing that story with my editor Monday afternoon and he asked me who won the showmanship contest that year. You know, I can’t recall. It seems to me the trophy usually went to the Ruesch clan, whether it was Andrea or one of her siblings.

Oftentimes I ponder just what I was meant to do here on Earth. Am I doing as God intended? Am I making a difference in the lives of others?

There are many days when I can’t answer those questions.

But Andrea … well, I know Andrea made a difference. She made a difference in the lives of young kids and had a knack for making people smile. She was one of the most positive-thinking people I knew, and I know she will be greatly missed.

The nearly turkey-less turkey capitol

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This afternoon, Worthington and Cuero, Texas, teams will face off in the first heat of the Great Gobbler Gallop, chasing beautiful bronze turkeys down 10th Street in downtown Worthington for the chance to take home the title of Turkey Capitol of the World.

The sad truth is that neither Worthington nor Cuero are even close to being the turkey capitol of the world these days. Nobles County is home to just one large turkey farm, and the last time I checked into Cuero’s turkey raising numbers, they weren’t any better.

These days, you have to drive a few hours to the north to find Minnesota’s largest turkey growing region. Many of the barns are centered around Willmar, where Jennie-O processes turkeys.

I was fortunate enough to grow up on a hobby farm with a myriad of animals … including turkeys. We always purchased the bronze birds and I showed them as 4-H projects each year at the fair, along with a pen of market chickens.

I always preferred to show the turkeys … they were more mild-mannered than the chickens. The turkeys became pets, and were curious about everything.

I remember summers on the farm when the turkeys would follow behind me as I led my dairy goats around the farmyard in preparation for the fair. They even made the family dog jealous … a time or two I recall the turkeys chasing the dog around the yard!

During my first year in 4-H … I was eight years old … my pen of bronze turkeys earned grand champion at the Nobles County Fair. I wasn’t old enough to go to the Minnesota State Fair to show them, of course, but each of my older brothers earned trips with poultry that year … they took chickens.

I went along with my folks to the state fair to see them, and all I remember about it was that my oldest brother had to process one of his market chickens for the carcass class. I was horrified … and thankful I was too young to take my beautiful purple ribbon-winning turkeys to the state fair!

Within a week after the state fair was over, however, my parents loaded up our small flock of turkeys and hauled them to the Peterson Poultry facility just a couple miles down the road for processing. I’m pretty sure I cried … and I know that I refused to eat the Thanksgiving turkey that year because it was one of my purple ribbon winners.

We have a lone turkey on the family farm right now … and it will be the Thanksgiving dinner this year barring any unforeseen mishap. Fortunately, I haven’t been out to the farm enough to make the bronze-colored bird a pet … but he sure is a handsome tom when he puffs out his tail feathers.

One last fair of the season

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As if this weekend isn’t going to be busy enough with Turkey Day coverage and hosting a houseful of kids and adults to do the Ocheda Beavers 4-H Club scrapbook and program book, I’m going to squeeze in a visit to the Clay County Fair in Spencer, Iowa. It is my last chance to get to one more fair in 2009, and I look forward to this one each year.

With my tight schedule, I have already planned my stops … the open class exhibit building (to see the needlework, of course), the photography exhibit (we have some awesome photographers in this part of the Midwest), the poultry barn, antique hall, Expo and Convention building exhibits and the booths under the grandstand.

It should be a fun, albeit quick visit this time around … work awaits back here in Worthington. I’ll be covering the speaker on Saturday at King Turkey Day, and I can’t miss the turkey race … it’s my favorite of the KTD activities.

Go Paycheck!