It's Fair Time

It’s Fair Time!

The Jackson County Fair has been held in Brownstown since 1939, and it’s earned a reputation as one of the best—and biggest—fairs in the state.

There’s something for everyone: 4-H exhibits, a bustling midway, live entertainment, and quite the social scene. The older crowd sets up lawn chairs along the main walkway, catching up with friends and neighbors as they pass by. You’ll find the kids on the rides or hanging out in the livestock barns. The rest of us wander through the exhibition buildings hoping to snag a free yardstick or some other coveted giveaway.

The fair always falls in late July, and for years, it lined up with my birthday. I loved going and was secretly a little jealous of the kids who spent the whole week there showing their cows or pigs. Many of them even stayed overnight—either in campers or on a cot in a sweltering barn with their animal. In retrospect, that sounds less appealing than it did at the time.

I was thrilled when my cousins joined 4-H and my parents let me join too. Finally, I could be part of the fair! That first year, I signed up for cooking and photography. The idea was to attend monthly meetings and work on projects throughout the year. In reality, I skipped more meetings than I should have and crammed everything in at the last minute.

A couple of weeks before the fair, I loaded my trusty Kodak camera with 110 film and wandered around the farm snapping pictures of our animals. Once they were developed, I slapped the best ones onto a poster board with rubber cement and called it good. I ended up with a second-place ribbon - the judges must’ve been feeling generous.

I thought the cooking project would be a breeze. If you’ve read my earlier blog, you’ll know I was famous for my oatmeal cookies. Sadly, the judges thought they were too salty and handed me a second-place ribbon. Apparently, sweet and salty hadn’t made it to Jackson County yet.

In my second year, my dad said I could show my rabbit. That meant I’d get to go to the fair every day to feed and water it! Unfortunately, Skunky passed away in June. Just a few days later, I got a letter from the fair asking what size cage I’d need for my rabbit. My dad said, “Tell them you’ll just need a hook.” I wasn’t sure whether to laugh or cry. That was the end of my short 4-H career.

One of my favorite spots was always the FFA’s Young McDonald’s Farm, home to all the baby animals. They sometimes had puppies up for adoption, and one year my sister Tracy brought one home. It was a little blue tick hound she named Scout. I couldn’t believe she didn’t ask Dad first—but to my surprise, he didn’t mind. Everyone fell in love with that dog—even Papaw Logan, who was tough to impress. He said the dog looked like a friend of his…

My nephew Levi had luck similar to mine at the fair.  He spent hours building and painting a model of the Dukes of Hazzard Daisy Duke Jeep.  His hard work was rewarded with a second place ribbon taped to the hood right on the golden eagle decal! When the ribbon was removed, the decal came off with the tape.

Around that time, Tracy took her own kids to the frog jumping contest. They went with the Petro family and left the frogs in their Econoline van while the kids explored the midway. When they came back to get the frogs, one had escaped and was sitting in the driver’s captain’s chair!

My niece Olivia was six or seven at the time. She remembers frog hunting with her dad at the pond behind their house, 5-gallon bucket in hand.

“Dad reminded me to stay quiet so we didn’t scare off the big frogs. He was so quick to catch them! We lugged our frogs in the big bucket to the fair. When we got them out for the competition, I was so excited! I was cheering for my frog, feeling very proud. Even girlie girls wearing bedazzled Hello Kitty shoes love a good frog jumping contest!”

On Sunday the fair officially begins and they host a horse show. It includes the usual classes, but also a stick horse race, an egg-and-spoon game, and a three-legged sack race. My dad and his friend Steve Mann started entering the sack race back in the ’90s. They were undefeated for years and decided to quit while they were ahead. But in 2022, they made a comeback—and won again! They’re now officially retired. (You can catch their final race on Facebook.)

If you make it out to the fair, don’t forget to check out the cattle barns. Many of the cows will be for sale during the 4-H Livestock Auction. And if you miss your chance there, no worries—contact us. We’re now taking orders for fall freezer beef and have a few smaller packages available now.