Oh yes, it was the most interesting week ever -- I have never seen anything like it. If you haven't heard, Josh's family is very involved in the festival, and has been for years. If you have further been following my new life, you might have also learned that this is the festival that Josh will be President of in 2014. Since we will be married by then, I will be the First Lady of the Warren County Prime Beef Festival, I suppose.
Okay...let me begin. First, we go to the hog show. For those of you who are ignorant about the country, like I was, here's the scoop -- you raise a hog (a pig) and then you train it to be shown. You enter a ring with others in your pig class, you poke the pig with a stick, all the while trying to walk and look at the judge, who is walking around the ring...judging your hog. I am not yet sure what makes a GOOD hog -- has to do with weight and shape, as Josh tried to explain. The judge also tried to justify his picks, and for the record, I often picked the pig that placed, so I now think I could be a judge. But even one more, I loved this, and wanted to show my own pig. I learned, however, that adults don't show...so I just informed Josh that our kids would be showing pigs. He looked at me, lovingly, and said "where we going to put a pig?" Hmmm...that is an issue, but if we just leave the dog running around outside here, we surely could just find a spot for the pig to hang out, right? Details... to be addressed later. In my country ignorance, I asked Josh what happens to the hogs now...he hesitated just a moment, and then broke it to me gently that they were going to be loaded in the trailer that was waiting and sent to the butcher (to be auctioned off later in the week). WHAT? All that work and the pig becomes bacon for you to eat...apparently some good bacon from what I could tell. I don't know why this surprised me but it did...
The funniest thing, without a doubt, that I have ever seen in my life up until this point is a chicken scramble! Again, for those ignorant to this concept, is goes like such...they separate by boys/girls and by age group, and each group gets their turn. They let the chickens loose, they let the kids loose -- and it's a scramble. The kids try to grab a chicken, take it to the center ring, and get $1. Yep...all this excitement for one dollar! One dollar. I still laugh as I write this. Josh asked me if I wanted to try, the princess and her court asked me if I wanted to try...I said, no thanks! I just laughed and laughed. It's too funny. Some kids are excited but scared, so Josh and the others help them catch their chickens. Catch their chickens. Seriously. And when they catch a chicken, most often, they have to hold them by their legs, upside down, and carry them.
Time now for the imfamous calf tagging -- the long awaited event that my fiance took charge of. (No, I didn't put the glue on the calf -- and he says it is not as easy as it sounds...wonder why? That calf has to be mad!). Once again, for your education, a calf has glue put on his back and tags are stuck all over him (think there was over 40 tags). The calf is let loose -- and mad -- and runs around -- getting madder as it is chased and cornered. The kids -- 11-16 yrs. -- are let loose and chase the calf, who is faster than I expected. I have never seen a cow run -- have you? The stakes have increased friends, if these kids grab a tag, they get $10. It happens very quick (the cow is probably glad for that), and then it's over -- also very hilarious to watch!
Our final weekly highlight -- the demolition derby. I have never seen a demo derby -- how many of us have? I would guess not many. Josh MC's this event -- he even gets the crowd to do the wave. He's loud and crazy, but it seems to work. This event really brings out the crowd -- in fact, this week really brings out the crowd -- it you ever wanted to people watch, this is the place to do it. Back to the derby...different rounds of cars -- old clunkers, get into the track, which is full of mud, by the way (back to that later), and try to crash into each other until only one car still moves. Josh sometimes forgets details, forgetting that I am "new" to all this -- and to his credit, he was busy last week. No one mentioned the mud -- the mud that gets stuck under the driver's tires as they spin, and then gets flung at the crowd when they accelerate. You wouldn't think mud would go very high or very far, but I am here to tell you it does. I tried several locations to sit, and none were safe. None. I wore a trash bag dress at one point (which didn't protect my hair) and probably became the laughing stock of Warren County (bless Josh's heart for being seen with me). Eventually I went into the track shack to try to be safe, but even the mud flies in there. Oh, and if the track dries up at all, to make it more exciting, we use fireman's hoses to wet it back down...just in case you wondered how long this mud was involved.
There is also a fair, of course, with rides, and fair food -- so we ate healthy all week...not a true fact -- have you ever had a fair corn dog? If not, you better check it out -- trust me on this one!
As funny as it was, it was also fun. It's great to learn the traditions of a new community. And, I learned a great deal about agriculture. I was really intrigued by the cattle and hog auction, where farmers bid on these animals (FYI -- the cattle were already on the trailer to head to the butcher to join the pigs) and these kids make a lot of money from this process. All in all, I was able to really see the pride of what this community is about -- and it is rooted in agriculture, of course, but I was truly able to see how the foundation of agriculture makes this town what it is. It gave me a new appreciation for a farming community, and for what Josh loves and why he loves it.
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