Ole Pappy
From the time the championship rabbit was named Tuesday night, right on through the final 4-H Ribbon Auction on Sunday, the Lyon County Fair was meeting high expectations.
Sam Jens, Lyon County 4-H Program Coordinator probably put it best when he said, “There’s been a reorganization and a rejuvenation of the county fair.” While many other county fairs have taken a hit, the comments from the 2019-edition of the Lyon County Fair were nothing but glowing.
While the “fair” is about so much more than a “midway,” fact is, most folks judge a fair by the spinning rides, “win-a-chance” games and stands filled with corn dogs and french fries. This year’s midway was new — and spectacular to most visitors. The Todd Armstrong Midway Rides were lit up at night like Christmas on Times Square.
“They really are nice rides, and they run a clean show,” said a visitor. From the large ring ride called, “Ring of Fire,” that propelled riders around the circle, most of the time upside down, to the tall tower that delivered guests to the top and dropped them to the bottom. “I think everyone should be pleased with our Midway,” said Todd Armstrong. “People can expect to have a clean crew ... an overall difference to what people are used too,” Amstrong said.
But the Midway itself was only the beginning. After watching the Champions Forever basketball dribbling exposition, Bruce Kack of Minneota said, “That was outstanding. They were really good.”
Then, when told about the Circus appearing on the other end of the fairgrounds, the Los Moralitos Circus in fact, he said, “We’ll have to go down and see that, too.”
On Thursday night there was one mishap when cowboy Quentin Vaught of Crane, MO was stepped on by the bull after he was thrown from the bull. He was eventually medevacked to Sioux Falls in serious condition.
Inside the show arenas, the 4-H kids competed for to prizes. Inside the arena during the Premier Showmanship event on Saturday, two of the judges were former Lyon County 4-Hers who had performed themselves for years in this very arena. They were Alex Lessman and Alex Guttormsson, both of Minneota.
“We learned a lot from being judged. Its funny how you remember all that stuff,” said Lessman. He admitted, “We use what we learned when we were showing.”
Both said they had a great time judging, just like, “We had a great time when we were showing,” said Lessman. “We were having fun out there. I used questions they used to ask me,” Lessman said.
“It’s really fun to be out there again as a judge,” added Guttormsson. And it was equally enjoyable to see these two outstanding young men giving back to an event that meant so much in their lives. What it all comes down to is the fact the 2019 Lyon County Fair won’t be one anyone will soon forget.
LAUGH A LITTLE: The thief. A thief broke into my house last night. He started searching for money. So, I woke up and searched with him.
THOUGHT FOR THE WEEK: As my Ole Pappy used to say, “Some people remind me of old TV sets. You had to hit them to get the picture.” Thanks for the laugh Ole Pappy!