Do you have a great story or fond memories of past fairs? Drop us an e-mail and share it with us.
From Susan Key of Friday Harbor now in Hamilton Montana
Helping Albert Shepard and Jon Luke design the orca for the Whale Museum's salmon toss game and watching the kids pitch the fish! I've been to county fairs all over Washington, Idaho and Montana and this fair is the BEST because of the tremendous Island community and the wonderful folks at WSU Extension including all the volunteers.
From Deanna of Lopez Island now living in Virginia
My fondest memories of the the Fair are from the 70's and early 80's...showing sheep, my pony Peanut Butter and later my horse, Shadow. Growing up in 4-H, barn duty, working in the Lopez 4-H Corn Booth, wandering through the old main building, the year all of the travel trailers were lined up and folks sat out in lawn chairs in the evening on "main street", nightly potluck dinners in the cook shack, morning wake-up calls from 4-H leader Doug Franklin, watching the vaudeville show that came every year and the Fair Queen contest, pie eating contests, seeing Burl crack a grin watching the littlest folks wrangle, er, I mean show their animals, riding in poles and barrels in the evening as the sun went down then riding the rides until they closed, answering questions from off-islanders like, "do sheep shrink when you wash them?", chasing my market lamb through the cattle barn when some obnoxnious boy (he was one of 3 brothers from FH...you know who you are!) stuck a vacuum up my shirt when I was trying to get my lamb off of a stand, even the smell of sawdust and bedding for the animals...But most of all I remember being proud of my accomplishments, learning from my mistakes and knowing that I could always come back to the fair next year. I will be back to the Fair this year with my two boys and even though we'll just be there for a visit, I hope they'll have a chance to make some Fair memories of their own.
From Kristina in Kent, WA
During the 1980's, my family always had chickens in the fair. I was in the first chicken and first rabbit race. Burl Osborn had a pheasant in the race one year. He had tied fishing line around its leg and had a fishing pole. The bird took off, broke the string, and roosted in a big fir tree behind the grandstands. I'm not sure if Burl ever got that bird back. It was a classic Burl moment.
From Alex in Friday Harbor
I remember showing my horse in 4-H, gaming, the artwork, and being with friends.
