Ended Official BYC 2024 Summer Fair—Favorite Fair Memories

[casportpony]

Winner announced here!​

This contest is brought to you by our BYC Sponsors
(click to view & support them)

Official BYC 2024 Summer Fair
Favorite Fair Memories
Ends August 25th, 2023​

What are your earliest or most memorable memories of the fair? Was it the first time you rode a roller coaster or the Ferris wheel? Was it that giant stuffed toy you won playing a game of chance? Were you in 4H and won a ribbon for your show chicken?

Share your favorite fair memory with us!

In this contest, the winners will be picked using a random number generator.

Prizes - A three 3-month PFM!

To increase your chances of winning, please read the rules before entering.
.
Rules:

1. Post your favorite fair memory as a reply to this thread. The entry must be at least 100 words long.
2. Only one entry per member will be accepted.
3. Feel free to share a photo if it ties in with your story.
4. We will use a random number generator to select our winners for this Contest.
5. Prizes are limited to one per person per contest.
6. All BYC rules apply: Terms of Service (Rules)
7. Entries will be accepted until August 25th, 2024, at 11:59 PM Pacific Time.

This contests are brought to you by our BYC Sponsors
(click to view & support them)
​

 

[casportpony]

Official BYC 2024 Summer Fair Contests
Click on a picture or link to enter the contest​

Standard-Bred Chicken Show
Other Poultry Show
Meat Bird Show
Livestock Show
Equine Show
Caged Bird Show
Farm Machinery Show
Car, Truck, Motorcycle, RV & Boat Show
Favorite Fair Memories
Outdoor Garden Show
Indoor Plant Show
Artwork Show
Handcrafts Show
Baked Goods Show
Canning and Preserving Show
Fair Food Show
BYC & Sister Sites Trivia Challenge
Bingo
Count the Founding Father's Candies
Count the Summer Fair Candies

These contests are brought to you by our BYC Sponsors
(click to view & support them)​

 

[HomesteaderWife]

So happy to see these contests going!

I think I shared once about a favorite fair memory in the 2021 contest where my mother and I both won silver platters for baking so I will try and recall something different! -

The Fair and the Money Cake
I did some digging and I think this would have been 2004. That year, the state fair was having their big 50th anniversary celebration, and one of the big draws they had for people coming to the fair was a massive cake that had the chance to win prizes including money with every slice. I can't remember whether there was some kind of little plastic trinket with a number on the inside of the slice, or some kind of actual plastic envelope, but my family and I (three of us total then) each got a slice and we all three earned cash prizes from the anniversary cake. It wasn't a whole lot, but enough to spend at the fair that year. I can't find any news articles about the event with photos sadly but I bet someone else remembers it, as the cake was MASSIVE. It was only one specific day that they had it available out of the multi-day event, but that was one of the coolest things I remember seeing at the fair.

 

[casportpony]

So happy to see these contests going!

I think I shared once about a favorite fair memory in the 2021 contest where my mother and I both won silver platters for baking so I will try and recall something different! -

The Fair and the Money Cake
I did some digging and I think this would have been 2004. That year, the state fair was having their big 50th anniversary celebration, and one of the big draws they had for people coming to the fair was a massive cake that had the chance to win prizes including money with every slice. I can't remember whether there was some kind of little plastic trinket with a number on the inside of the slice, or some kind of actual plastic envelope, but my family and I (three of us total then) each got a slice and we all three earned cash prizes from the anniversary cake. It wasn't a whole lot, but enough to spend at the fair that year. I can't find any news articles about the event with photos sadly but I bet someone else remembers it, as the cake was MASSIVE. It was only one specific day that they had it available out of the multi-day event, but that was one of the coolest things I remember seeing at the fair.

What a great experience for you and your family. Thank you for sharing this heartwarming memory!

 

[Susan Skylark]

My family has had a few adventures with the flower show at our county fair the last two years. I love flowers but am no gardener and we live in an area fraught with drought, cold, clay soil, and large flower eating herbivores so it is always hit and miss if anything is blooming come fair time. Last year I had day lilies, columbine, and daisies enough for one vase of each type for the three of us. I randomly assigned them to an exhibitor (ages 6, 11, and adultish) and guess what: exact same flowers, only difference is age! Six year old swept the youth division (grand champion, reserve, and superior) while the 11 year old got one blue and two red! This year we had no flowers, save 3 pathetic daisies. 12 year old had enough other stuff to take so didn’t miss the flowers. 7 year old took the daisies and a bouquet of ditch weeds (alfalfa, bluestem, wild oats, gray cone flower, yellow sweet clover). I took some immature dill that was dreadfully wilted (almost didn’t take it). I guess everyone had a poor flower year because my sad dill took grand champion as did the ditch hay, even the daisies took blue. Apparently I don’t need to grow nicer flowers I just need to reduce my age by a couple decades!

 

[casportpony]

My family has had a few adventures with the flower show at our county fair the last two years. I love flowers but am no gardener and we live in an area fraught with drought, cold, clay soil, and large flower eating herbivores so it is always hit and miss if anything is blooming come fair time. Last year I had day lilies, columbine, and daisies enough for one vase of each type for the three of us. I randomly assigned them to an exhibitor (ages 6, 11, and adultish) and guess what: exact same flowers, only difference is age! Six year old swept the youth division (grand champion, reserve, and superior) while the 11 year old got one blue and two red! This year we had no flowers, save 3 pathetic daisies. 12 year old had enough other stuff to take so didn’t miss the flowers. 7 year old took the daisies and a bouquet of ditch weeds (alfalfa, bluestem, wild oats, gray cone flower, yellow sweet clover). I took some immature dill that was dreadfully wilted (almost didn’t take it). I guess everyone had a poor flower year because my sad dill took grand champion as did the ditch hay, even the daisies took blue. Apparently I don’t need to grow nicer flowers I just need to reduce my age by a couple decades!

Congratulations, and thanks for sharing your experiences!

 

[Kingbobkingdom]

My friends and I went to the country fair a few weeks ago and roamed inside the 4-H building where all the entries were on display. I had a fun time with my brother viewing all the photographs that won ribbons because they really varied in quality. One was simply a phone picture of a cow’s nose. Another was a stunning photo of a dragonfly. Entries lined the shelves and tables, including several photos of people getting splashed with water, which somehow acquired ribbons too. We enjoyed disagreeing with the judges’ preferences, and I will always wonder how the photos were captured and evaluated because one was literally a shot of a horse’s bare teeth!

the fair, taken from the bleachers

 

[casportpony]

grandfather-clockdown-72643.mp3

• casportpony
• Feb 28, 2024

Just a friendly reminder to get those last-minute entries in! This contest ends tomorrow, August 25th, 2024, at 11:59 PM Pacific Time.​

 

[casportpony]

My friends and I went to the country fair a few weeks ago and roamed inside the 4-H building where all the entries were on display. I had a fun time with my brother viewing all the photographs that won ribbons because they really varied in quality. One was simply a phone picture of a cow’s nose. Another was a stunning photo of a dragonfly. Entries lined the shelves and tables, including several photos of people getting splashed with water, which somehow acquired ribbons too. We enjoyed disagreeing with the judges’ preferences, and I will always wonder how the photos were captured and evaluated because one was literally a shot of a horse’s bare teeth!

the fair, taken from the bleachers

Wow, sounds like fun! Did you get any pictures of the winning photos?

 

[casportpony]

final-countdown.mp3

• casportpony
• Jun 24, 2023

Just a friendly reminder to get those last-minute entries in! This contest ends tonight, August 25th, 2024, at 11:59 PM Pacific Time.​