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PHOTOS BY REBECCA MILLER, STAFF
By: Rebecca Miller
The year 2020 will be remembered by many as the year when nothing was normal. The Williams County Fair experienced that, as the only event other than animal exhibits was Harness Racing which was held on Wednesday with no spectators in the stands.
Jr. Fair Exhibitors brought their animals in for judging and immediately took them home afterwards. The livestock sale of all those animals was held, but with no animals present. Each exhibitor stepped up like they normally do, only without their animal, and the auctioneers did their job.
The stands had plenty of people in them, sitting in family groups with masks on, and businesses had their bidders present. Bids didn’t seem to be affected by the absence of the animals, as auctioneers plied their trade and got the bidders to keep going. Smiles were often seen on the faces of the children as they stood with the picture of their animal or a trophy they had received.
The fair schedule was as follows, with Friday being the day for livestock to get weighed and tagged. On Saturday, the Jr. Dog Show, Jr. Goat Show, Jr. Poultry Show and Jr. Fair King and Queen Coronation took place. Sunday held the Jr. Swine and Jr. Horse Shows; Monday held Jr. Sheep, Jr. Beef Shows as well as the Horse Versatility; Jr. Dairy and Jr. Rabbit shows were seen on Tuesday and Wednesday hosted the Showmanship Sweepstakes. It all wrapped up at the Jr. Fair Livestock Sale in the Show Pavilion on Thursday.
Fair Board President Matt Kennedy explained that other than a half dozen or so food vendors, the youth exhibitors and their families along with the fair directors, the grounds were empty. Only about six or eight campers were set up, when normally there are hundreds.
The fair was scheduled for September 11 – 19, but following the livestock sale on Thursday, September 17, everything was shut down for the year. Everyone packed up, cleared out and went home. Kennedy said that the cleaning was even different this year, with the fair directors taking three hour shifts to clean throughout the week. “It saved a lot of money this year, as normally we pay out in the thousands, but this way, we just did it ourselves,” he said.
Congratulations to all those kids who worked hard with their animals and participated in the fair, even though it wasn’t quite the same.
Rebecca can be reached at publisher@thevillagereporter.com
