The Heath Fair begins for me on Thursday when a loyal crew sets up the Friends of  the  Heath Library tent, after which we bring in our exhibits. This year I was in charge of bringing in exhibits for Anthony and Drew, and Tynan, as well as my own. Talk about hectic.

When we arrived at the Fair on a sunny Saturday morning we found we had lots of winners. All the boys had won ribbons and Rory’s prizes totalled $10!  My herbs got a first and Carol Lively’s only got a second. We stood there and examined our entries together and laughed. Who could tell the difference?  Oh well, friendly competition.  I did take a second prize for my original Maple Walnut Wafers – a $15 prize.  Janis Steele-McCutchen took the first for her Maple Baklava! Competition was stiff in the Maple Confection class.

The Exhibit Hall was full of the Produce of the  area, not just Heath. There were vegetables, fruits, cheeses, maple syrup, flowers and flower arrangements, quilts, knitting, photographs, paintings, lego constructions, bread, cookies, pies, and a sense of humor.

This whale of a zucchini won a prize in the Vegetable Sculpture class. Well done!

Saturday was a perfect Fair Day, but the weather changed during the night. The rain was light in the morning, but got progressively harder as the day wore on. Did the vendors care? Did we care?  No!

Even the youngest riders in the gymkhana paid little attention to the rain.

The oxen waiting their turn at the ox draw certainly didn’t mind. There was a good crowd of oxen at the Fair this year, and a good audience. There were other ‘pulls’, the Horse Draw, the Tractor Pull and the Garden Tractor Pull.

The music tent was one of the places to sit and keep dry.  The music was great. Our New York City friend Helen got into the Fair spirit hula hooping to the music of the Sweetback Sisters from Brooklyn!

The kids had no interest in hooping under the tent when they could gyrate in the rain and get drenched. Much more fun.

The Heath Fair celebrates the agriculture present, and future of the area, but with a nod back to history and the old tasks that had to be done. This young person is learning how to make rope. You always needed a good stout piece of rope on a farm.

Very modern Kara made and wore this authentic outfit as a nod to Heath’s history – even though there was no Fair back in  the 19th century.  But we hope the  Fair will continue until our jeans and T-shirts look as quaint to Fairgoers as this beautiful dress.