View from the Cab: Fair time

By Kent Casson

If you are a fan of county fairs, the next few weeks are for you.

Our fair season kicks into high gear around here with this week’s Livingston County Ag Fair near Pontiac which runs Wednesday, July 17 through Saturday, July 20 under the shade trees of 4-H Park.

Highlights for day one on Wednesday include the flag raising, sheep, dairy, goats, beef fitting and grooming and the dog show. Horticulture, floriculture and herb gardening will be in the Humiston Building at 9 a.m. and other highlights include electricity, small engines, tractor care, animal science, citizenship, child development and foods. The evening features the royalty crowning and scholarship presentations followed by the rodeo at the grandstand.

Thursday starts off with the swine show at 8 a.m. in the show barn along with rabbits in the Byrne Building. A horse and pony show takes place in the grandstand area at 10 a.m. and pheasant and quail starts at 2 p.m. The popular ag games take place near the grandstand at 5:30 p.m.

Friday is a big day with beef showmanship, beef heifer show, cake decorating, rooster crowing, poultry show, rocket launches, style review, kiddie tractor pull, live decorated cake auction and the tractor pull at the grandstand.

The final day on Saturday includes a cat show, master showmanship in the show barn starting at 9:30 a.m., the various sales in the show barn at 1 p.m. and State Fair sign-up. Exhibits are released from 3 to 5 p.m. and the live chainsaw carving auction takes place at 7 p.m. followed by the demo derby at 7:30 p.m. from Ramer Race Promotions at the grandstand.

This year’s McLean County Fair starts next week at the Interstate Center grounds in Bloomington and the annual Woodford County Fair is next week as well.  I believe Iroquois is in there somewhere, too.

I always have a blast covering the various county fairs each summer for the Central Illinois Farm Network’s “Fair Central” tour, plus we typically make a trip down to the Illinois State Fair in Springfield at least once during the 10-day run.

Be sure to stop by our family’s dairy display with our calves at the Livingston County Ag Fair in the dairy barn and say hello.  That’s where we will be practically living for the next several days.  You may even catch me taking a nap or two by the straw.