I won a ribbon at the Niagara County Fair

I am not always the most outdoorsy person. I have been known to go and interview a person for a story that takes place on a farm, wearing a dress and heels.

While growing up, though, I liked activities like camping and playing outside. I attended horse camp and would help my mother with various outdoor tasks over the years.

One thing I never did growing up was participating in any type of 4-H or agriculture program while in school.

Though every summer one of the things I looked forward to was attending the Missouri State Fair. I have many memories of the booths, the games, the rides, the exhibits and the animals.

Since moving to Lockport I have enjoyed attending the Niagara County Fair. It is fun to play games, eat “fair food” and see the different exhibits 4-H kids have made.

This fair is very much student driven and it is nice to see their hard work and dedication.

This year’s Niagara County Fair was no different. I was very impressed by the turn out at the kick-off event to the fair. The annual Farm City Breakfast was a huge success with the tent filling up with people, many having to sit at additional tables outside of the large food tent.

This breakfast is always a fun way to get everyone in the fair spirit and get ready for a weekend of events.

As I walked around the fair grounds, one thing caught my attention. Throughout the grounds were pieces of paper with a QR scan code on it. The purpose was to use a scanner app on your cell phone and compete in a QR scavenger hunt. So even though I am sure it was designed more for children, I began to follow the scavenger hunt to see where it took me.

This scavenger hunt was really a great idea because it took me into areas I don’t normally go into and forced me to look around more than I normally might. It also is a great way to integrate technology and the modern day child/young adult with the fair. It is definitely something I hope continues in the future.

My final experience with the fair came on Saturday when I decided to enter the adult exhibit. As one of my side ventures, I am a cake decorator. So when I saw adults could enter and there was a cake decorating category I was very excited.

Not participating in anything like it as a child, it was fun to get a little insight and see what 4-H students go through. The students were also the judges for the contest, giving them a better understanding of how their own entries are judged.

It was also then exciting to come back to the fair on Sunday and walk into the exhibit room to find out my cake entry received a blue ribbon.

All and all I think the 2012 Niagara County 4-H fair was a huge success. It brought many together, celebrating 75 years of 4-H and I look forward to next year.