The week before fair I had a lot of packing to get done.
Whether I won or not I knew I was going to be extremely busy, so I packed up
tons of clothes, lots of jewelry, and a whole bunch of hair spray. When Sunday
came, I was never so nervous in my whole life. The day had finally come that I
was preparing for all summer long. Before the pageant I had to do an interview
with the judges and give them a history tour of the fairgrounds, but even
though that went smoothly I still had to get through the pageant. When the
pageant came my heart was racing and I was so nervous to step onto the stage,
but as soon as I did all my nerves went away. I did an introduction of myself,
read my speech, and answered a question. Then, after we both finished all of
our stuff the judges went to decide, and my nerves came back, worse than
before. When they came back they announced the winner. I was never so relieved
that I had won! Now that I did win, I knew the week ahead would be the busiest
week of my whole life. On Monday I attended the horse show, helped get my sheep
ready for the show, attended an award ceremony, worked at the Little Red School
House, met the Bedford County Fair Queen, Ashley Koontz, and then I attended
the Demo Derby. The Little Red School House is the Fair Queen's headquarters,
where I teach children all about Farm Safety 4 Just Kids. I began to realize
that I would never get to sit down. Then came Tuesday, and if I thought Monday
was busy, I was wrong. Tuesday Morning came and I attended the pig show to
handout ribbons, the judge was hilarious and a blast. Then in the middle of
that I had to go to an interview with the Altoona Mirror, after I was finished
with that, I had just enough time to grab some lunch before the class of little
kids I had coming to the school house arrived. When I was finished with that, I
went back to the pig show just in enough time to hand out the Grand and Reserve
Grand Champion Overall. After all that, I had to show my sheep. I feel like I
did well in the sheep show. Wow, now its Wednesday already, I can't believe it.
Early Wednesday morning I woke up so I could bath my steer and get ready for
the show. I ended up winning Grand Champion! But, just shortly after getting a
couple pictures taken, I was running off to get dressed up again to meet the
Troy County Fair Queen and her court. That was a great experience. I showed
them all around the fairgrounds. After I said goodbye to them I had to rush to
the Farm Museum to jump into the far backseat of an old car for the parade.
After the parade I got to go to the camper and rest for just a little bit until
I went to introduce the talent show to all our visitors. It was a great talent
show. On Thursday I got up and went to watch the Premier Showmanship contest,
its where all the top showman of each species show against each other to see
who is the best. At the end of that I handed out scholarships, ribbons, and I
was pleased to hand the big trophy over to my sister who had won. After the
show I participated in the public speaking contest, I received second place.
Now there was some time for some fun with my best friend. Marrra and I
participated in the Fair Scavenger Hunt to try and win the laptop computer; it
was a lot harder than we thought it was going to be. After that, I worked the
in the School House with a lot of little kids. It was a blast and right as I
was locking up to go grab some supper, I was snatched away by Miss Linda so I
could go do a live TV interview on WJAT with Joe Mergo. That was a nerve
racking experience. I got to explain on live TV how to hand milk a cow. I was
of course embarrassed. So after the interview I ran for some supper so I would
make it to Dairy Fun Night on time. At the beginning of Dairy Fun Night they do
celebrity cow milking. You have to fill part of a cup up by hand milking the
cow, then chug a small carton of milk. I won! I competed against Joe Mergo, The
CEO of the JC Blair Memorial Hospital, and the guy who works at the Martin
General Store in Alexandria. It was a great time. Through watching Dairy Fun
Night, I helped judge the dress up contest, where kids dress their animals up
as anything funny, and watched all the kids participate in fun events. When
Friday morning came I did not want to get out of bed. I knew that soon I would
have to sell my animals, especially my cow, which was my big baby. During the
sale I got pictures with all the Grand and Reserves and the buyers who bought
them for the daily news. The sale went to 4pm. It was a long sale. After the
sale I helped my family clean all of our equipment up and get ready to go home.
I managed to sneak in an hour nap before the Demo Derby. The Demo Derby was a
blast and I handed out the best looking car trophy! On Saturday I got up bright
and early to attend the Grange Breakfast and award ceremony. It was very nice.
Then I got to go support my little cousins in the Pedal Tractors Pulls, which
was new at our fair this year so it’s the first time I ever got to watch them.
Now came the time for what I was looking forward to all week, The Wing Off.
Where my dad and I got to judge with Jamie and Matt. It was a great time. I
handed out awards. Then I had to get ready for the raffle. We did a raffle at
8:30 and 10:30 p.m. It was very late but enjoyable. I made four peoples' night.
This fair week was the fastest one I can remember and I wouldn't change a thing
about it. I got to learn so much and I made a ton of memories that I will never
forget. I look forward to the next year to see what all it brings to my plate,
and to see how good I can represent The Huntingdon County Fair!
Kayla Wright
