If you're one of the people lucky enough to call Susquehanna County home sweet home, you've probably spent many summers waiting anxiously for opening day of the Harford Fair. Whether you saved spare coin in a water cooler jug courtesy of Dad's office or set an early morning alarm to be out in the barn washing, walking and feeding your livestock babies for fair week competition, it's safe to say that everybody who's anybody has had their own set of Harford Fair Week traditions. Here's a glimpse of the many things we'll all be missing until next year's Harford Fair rolls around:
1. Fair food
Okay, duh. Fair move-in and camper set-up begin about a week before the fair opens to the public, and so do a few key concession stands. While you're happy to make the trek to the fair food stand on the hill for a few days (or meander past the band booth hoping to be a lucky milkshake taste-tester), it's only because you know in less than a week the Harford Fair will be your oyster... spend carefully my friends, because the week has not yet begun.
2. Stalking the 4-H Building until the doors open on Monday morning
LOL at 4-Her Callie. I'm just saying that waking up at 6 a.m. for wash rack/milking/feeding time is a cruel, cruel joke to play on a child who is desperate to know how her cake placed in the highly competitive, cutthroat competition that is the Susquehanna County 4-H project round up. While in reality this isn't a big deal and everyone deserves to do well, there is just no pain like standing outside the locked doors at 10:01 a.m. when it was supposed to be open at 10 a.m.
3. Quality time with family
If, like me, your parents loved you enough (and were blessed to be able to) take off a day or two or six for the Harford Fair, you know exactly how awesome it was to have an extra set of (let's be honest, more capable) hands at the wash rack during the day. And how less-than-awesome it was when they wanted to know where you were going to be and who you'd be with at night. In hindsight, 100000% appreciate them keeping an eye on me. At the time? Not cool, Dad. Not cool.
4. The food
Oh my gosh, almost forgot about this one?? Spiedie sandwiches, anyone? Potato pancakes? Strawberry smoothies? Corn on the cob? Pretzel sandwiches that leave you below the poverty line? All of these mouthwatering masterpieces await you at the fair. Why try one when you could try one of everything?
5. Making bets on which day will bring the annual pouring rain/mild flooding.
There's always one. You spend the entire week of set-up sweating and breathing in dust, only to wake up Wednesday morning to rain puddles under your feed bales. You appreciate your bay neighbors and fellow exhibitors more on this day than any other day of the week, because if they see something going down, they take care of it when you're not around, or lend a hand when you are. Nothing says "I definitely don't hate you but I still want to crush you in the show ring" like tossing would-be wet bales under cover of the barn roof as the rain comes rolling in. Thanks, pals. You're #1 in my book.
6. Chatting with those people you never see outside of fair
Whether they're passing through the barn or hauling their camp chairs over for a late-night chat interrupted only by pitchfork duty, these are truly some of the best people in your life. Fair week comes with its own drama and silliness, but is still somehow free from the craziness of everyday life. Appreciate these people, because they're the best part of your favorite week of the year.
7. Buying useless, terrible things you'll break within the first 10 minutes of buying it.
Rubber band gun? Check. Bow and arrow with the sponge tips? Check. Even the random things that seem like a good idea: shirts, hair clips and toy cars, are either lost, broken, or stained beyond recognition by the time you're packing up to go home. Save your money and spend it on what truly matters in this wacky, fair-frenzied life...
8. Fair food
Wait, did this one come up yet? Can't believe I almost left it out! Loaded baked potatoes, peanut butter fudge, and the most delicious and coveted of all: the homemade chili/soup/roast that your lovely, beautiful, perfect, under-appreciated mom put together and delivered to you at the fairgrounds. Somehow this tastes so much better when you're eating it out of a styrofoam bowl while sitting on top of a show box watching other people silently envy you. But then again, maybe that's just my experience.
9. Early mornings on the wash rack
Sure, it's August and midday temperatures average between 80 and 90 degrees, but at 5 a.m. there's a chill in the air and dew in the grass that makes snuggling into that sleeping bag all the sweeter. Don't do it, friend. There's a perfect, hosed-down, empty wash rack waiting for you as the sun peeks over the horizon. Sleeping for a "few more minutes" may seem worth it at the time, but you'll be kicking yourself when you're squeezing your heifer between two first-year 4-Hers in the middle of a hose battle whose calves are unattended and covered in soap. Are you a babysitter or a fair exhibitor? At this time of day, you're both. And you're stepping in piles of poop that no one bothered to clean up. All of this misery and more could have been avoided if you only took that alarm clock seriously.
10. Your post-fair nap
Sometimes this actually occurs during the fair, when all of your work is done. But usually, you slip into a peaceful, non-threatening coma while riding shotgun taking the trailer back home during move-out on Sunday morning. What a beautiful thing it is to wake up with a seatbelt line on your cheek from where you slumped over and snored for forty five minutes on the way back to Lawton.
11. Realizing how lucky you are to know these people and live in this wonderful place
In spite of the silliness, the drama, the exhaustion, the dealing with other over-tired people and stressing yourself out over dairy shows, livestock sales, and which kid you're supposed to be watching went where, you know that there's a reason this is your favorite "vacation" and you'd never trade the people or this place for all the money in the world. Thanks for the memories, Harford Fair. Looking forward to doing it all again next year.
What are your favorite Harford Fair memories? Share your stories and traditions in the comments below!
