Wednesday, September 9, 2009

I'm Finally Able to Tell the Fair Tale.......


Last Friday we went to the Allentown Fair. We took the Mighty Matt and did it up right.



I wanted to see what happened with all the entries I made. Admittedly I registered far more than I actually entered, knowing that I wouldn't get all of it done in time, but I would rather register and not take in than finish the lot but not have registered them for competition.

I ended up actually taking pear butter, plum jam, peach jam, kiwi daiquiri jam, garlic dills and my friend Barb's Bread and Butter pickles (for the canning section) and zucchini bread, cottage cheese dill bread, and brownies for the baked goods. I got fourth place for the butter, third for the kiwi, second for the dills and third for the brownies and second for the dill bread. When I went to see the display, I found out that the pickle jars weren't even opened. I asked and was told 'oh, we just look at them, and if they look pretty, we vote for them'....I made Barb's pickles that have won the state fair for her SEVEN times and they DIDN'T EVEN TASTE THEM!!!!!!!I was robbed. I found out that they did the same thing to the baked goods, since 'most of the judges are older and have allergy/nut issues'....Here's a hint people.....get a better group of judges. Then I had to listen to the lady drone on about how they can't get any 'new blood' to put entries in the fair......while I am looking around and notice that EVERY blue ribbon on the canning competition had one thing in common, the same woman's name....Patricia XYZ. I feel that I was, as well as most of the others who submitted items, cheated out of a fair fair competition. I have a suggestion for them. Our local tech school has a really good culinary arts program, why not encourage them, via extra credit, to put things in competition (they already do VICA competitions) and maybe utilize them as judges? I intend to contact the Agricultural Department for Lehigh County and air my grievances, but I feel they will fall on deaf ears, since most of the winners are 'friends of friends, or cousins, of people on the board'.

Another thing that bothered me, and maybe I am over reacting to this, is the lack of security. My son is a coin collector. He loves money, all types, denominations, etc. Recently he is collecting British pennies and ha'pennies. He entered in the coin collection area a collection of ha'pennies dating from 1900 to 1967 (the last year they were issued). When I dropped them off, I was told they would be put under lock and key and kept in a display case out of reach. They were during the fair, but when I went to pick them up, the display was wide open, and no one was in sight. I had to get someone to retrieve the person in charge of that display. I told him I could very easily have just 'taken my collection' and he never would have known, and why was I told that it would be under lock and key when I dropped it off. He stated that 'it was locked up' during the fair. I'm thinking if someone had a bent to steal this, they should plan to come on the day you pick up your stuff, walk in, and walk out with it and no one would be the wiser until the rightful owner came to get it and found it missing. I really don't think I will have him enter anything else as I can't guarantee it will be returned that and I think he was really upset as 'yet again' this year, one of his collections he built from squat to put in the fair, was beaten out by the same 50-states Quarter book (the books that were sold in Walmart) that didn't have all the 50 states in it (even tho they are all out now)....but as the guy said when I picked it up...'oh, you made a yellow ribbon, that blue one was won by Ethel-over-there's grandson, he's thirty and lives with his moma, shame he ain't married, but we're hoping'......Should I say I rolled out of there, cranked the radio really loud in my husband's little Hyundai (made it shake) and screamed!!!!!

Bless my husband's little pointed head, however, he took individual jars of jam and pickles to work, told them they were award winning and have at them.....to see them sucked up like no tomorrow and want more. When I dejectedly told him "I" didn't win anything on them, he said well 'someone did'...and just enjoy the adulation. Now he wants me to get another box of kirbies and make more as they want more and more and more......I guess he figured my ego needed a little stroking.

Now on to other things. School started back yesterday. Jill in the 8th grade and Josh in the 11th. Things are off to an unusual start, so we'll wait and see what happens. We just started school and already we are working towards the weekend. This weekend there is a Polish Festival at The Shrine of Our Lady of Czechtochowa in Doylestown. No competitions to fret over there, just a good time. We're going to try to go and maybe, just maybe, Mighty Matt might want to go too!

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