Fair

New book on the American county fair!

America's County Fairs Just released: Purebred & Homegrown: America's County Fair Book We're pleased to announce the release of our new County fair book that covers the nation's vibrant county fairs from coast to coast! For more than a decade we traveled to some 90 fairs in 35 states (we lost exact count someplace) in order to record some of the great stories of people at America's fairs, plus to photograph some of the million things that happen at every fair, every year. We also detail the history of the agricultural fair and analyze some of the reasons that the fair persists today despite all the changes in agriculture in the last century. Available through your local County bookstore, at amazon.com, or directly from the publisher at the url provided. Take a look, and let us know what you think! Drake and Carol

By |2024-03-04T06:11:00+00:00December 14th, 2008|County Fair, Fair|0 Comments

North Dakota State Fair Documentary

North Dakota State Fair Documentary Fair documentary: The documentary “Our State Fair: The North Dakota Experience” will air at 8 p.m. Tuesday and 8:30 p.m. Thursday on Prairie Public Television. DVD copies can be purchased at the North Dakota State Fair office in Minot or call (701) 857-7620. “Our State Fair: The North Dakota Experience,” uses archival photographs and historic video footage to trace the annual event’s history, but it also examines how the fair serves North Dakota’s modern agricultural community. Prairie Public producer Matt Olien said the documentary focuses on the agricultural aspects of the fair—and especially the youngsters who come from all over the state to show their prize animals.

By |2024-03-04T06:18:26+00:00November 23rd, 2008|North Dakota, State Fair|0 Comments

N.C. Peanut Growers Association

Made Fall Veggie Stew, 1st Prize in the State Fair N.C. Peanut Growers Association Pea-nutty Vegetarian Main Dish Recipe Contest This Sounds Good!! N.C. Peanut Growers Association 2 large onions, chopped 2 tablespoons vegetable oil ½ teaspoon ground cayenne pepper ½ teaspoon garlic salt or powder 1 ½ cups chopped cabbage ½ cup peanut butter 1, 40-ounce can of sweet potatoes, cut into 1-inch cubes 1 teaspoon salt ¼ teaspoon ground ginger 1 can (14.5 ounces) diced tomatoes 1 can (14.5 ounces) okra, optional 1 can (15 ounce) black beans drained 1 cup apple juice 3 cups tomato juice Saute onions in vegetable oil until tender, about 10 minutes. Stir in cayenne pepper and garlic and sauté for two more minutes. Add chopped cabbage, and sauté, covered, for three minutes. Mix in tomato and apple juices, salt, ginger and tomatoes. Add sweet potatoes, okra, and black beans. Simmer for five minutes. Stir in peanut butter and simmer gently over very low heat until ready to serve. Stir frequently to prevent scorching. Add more juice or water if too thick. Serve with crackers. Serves 10-12 people. Blogged with the Flock Browser

By |2024-03-04T06:10:18+00:00November 8th, 2008|Contests, Fair Food, North Carolina, Peanut, State Fair|0 Comments

I have been invited to a Cricket Spitting Contest

This is a real county fair event. I am always on the look out for something different. Aren’t we all? This is definitely different Cricket Spitting Contest. You put a dead cricket in your mouth and see how far you can spit it. Sounds delightful, doesn’t it? It sure would be a big draw at a state fair. Even children under nine can do this. Cricket Spitting was developed in 1996 by entomolgist Tom Turpin at Purdue University in West Lafayette, IN. rules are simple: Competitors stand in a red circle, place thawed crickets inside their mouths and, spitting them as far as possible without stepping outside the circle. The official Guinness world record is 30 feet, 1.2 inches. The unofficial record from the Purdue Bug Bowl is 37 feet, 9.75 inches. I have been invited to a Cricket Spitting Contest Dead crickets, with no chocolate coating, fly further if launched head-first. I guess this is a sport not to be taken lightly – ” Chicago — A 23-year-old man suffered fatal injuries when he fell from his Mt. Prospect balcony during a spitting contest with his friends, police in northwest suburb said Tuesday.” ah, of course he was also drinking. The contest I was invited to is at the Florence County Fair in Wisconsin. However, I believe I will decline this one. Did anyone get a good watermelon seed-Cricket Spitting Contest? Cricket Spitting @ the Florence County Fair! That’s right. . . you come and put a cricket spitting world record in your mouth and see how far you can spit it. Here are the rules: 1.) The farthest cricket wins. 2.) The cricket must remain in tact. 3.) You have 10 seconds from the moment the cricket is in your mouth until the time you spit it. 4.) There are three age groups: – 9 & under – 10-14 – 15 & up 5.) The top three spitters in each age group receive a medal.

By |2024-03-27T11:01:21+00:00August 18th, 2008|Contests, Insects, Wisconsin|0 Comments

Corndogs?

Welcome to the Iowa State Fair, where the CornDogs Rules! The Iowa State Fair offered free admission this year from 5am to 8:30am on opening day of the Fair. They also offered free corn dogs with the free admission. Campbell’s Concessions cooked the corn dogs and Sysco provided the hot dogs. Where did the corn dog come from? Its a good question, and there is some confusion about that. Carl and Neil Fletcher say they introduced their “Corny Dogs” at the Texas State Fair between 1938 and 1942. A food vendor called Pronto Pup claims they invented the corn dog for the Minnesota State Fair 1941. 1946, Dave Barham opened the first location of Hot Dog on a Stick at Muscle Beach, Santa Monica, California. I suppose we will never know where the corn dog came from. It is however an American staple. I know my eleven-year-old grandson thinks so. The following recipe comes from Cooks.com\ The CornDogs Showdown CORN DOG BATTER 6 c. cornmeal 3 c. plain flour 2 1/2 tsp. soda 1 1/2 tsp. salt 2 tbsp. sugar 3 c. buttermilk 2 1/2 c. water 2 eggsIn large mixing bowl mix all dry ingredients. Add buttermilk and water. Beat in eggs and mix well. If batter gets stiff add small amount of water. Roll prepared weiner in batter and fry in deep hot oil until browned.To prepare corn dog, use wieners right out of the package; insert stick and coat wiener by rolling it in the batter. Hold on to stick. Leftover batter may be kept a few days in the refrigerator. Can be made into cornbread by adding a little more liquid corn dog history.

By |2024-03-27T11:12:01+00:00August 9th, 2008|Corn Dog, Fair Food, Iowa, Recipe, State Fair|0 Comments

Not All Grant Programs Are From The Government

A lot of all Grant Programs have been started by organizations, foundations and other entities to bring a greater awareness to something or some subject. Let’s take for example one of the more unusual grant programs that are out there. Did you know that there is a grant program to help increase the awareness of harness racing? Yes that’s right – harness racing – you know horses and stuff! Not only the government that has All grant programs You see this is what I talk about when I say that you just can’t imagine the spectrum of different grant programs that are out there. Now the one I mention above is offered by an All Grant Programs organization to bring a greater awareness to harness racing. But it also wants to bring greater attention to the county fairs that are held all over the United States! But not just fairs are eligible for the grant program. Past recipients of this grant program have been horsing associations, various agricultural societies and even a historic race track has also received this grant. Unfortunately this particular grant program requires that the applicants have matching funds but if your organization can raise $5,000 then your organization is eligible to apply for this grant which will award an additional $5,000. This grant money has been used to pay for advertising and even for the creation of a website to help further promote the organization’s fair. This particular grant program started just last year but because it became so popular the organization decided to add additional grant amounts to their program.

By |2024-03-27T11:19:31+00:00July 9th, 2007|Grants|0 Comments

Snuffy’s Magical Clown Review

Snuffy\'s Clown Review Snuffys Magical Clown Review has been a family-oriented act since 1972. Started by Archie Searle and Keith Hall, the project encompassed their family, including 9 members county fair. Eventually, Hall left, and Archie and his son Michael kept the tradition alive in San Francisco and then Nevada.   Snuffys Magical Clown Review  Today Michael Searle and his wife Karen star as "Mouse and Daisy" They are featured across the United States performing for a variety of venues including, state and county fairs, libraries, malls, schools, restaurants, corporate events, and private functions. They do between 300 and 500 performances each year. In addition to their work as performers, Michael and Karen are the primary managers for the Maricopa County Fair. That fair nearly went bankrupt until Michael and Karen stepped in to save the fair in 2004. The fair is now on a solid financial footing and is self-supporting. To find out more about Snuffy's Magical Clown Review, visit their website listed below: http://www.snuffysclowns.com/

By |2024-03-27T15:03:44+00:00June 4th, 2007|Clowns, County Fair, Maricopa|0 Comments
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