The Driftless Area: 5 - Winneshiek County Fair

Ready for a big, heaping slice of Americana?

Walking there through my neighborhood.

That was quick! Decorah is not large, nestled in our little crater, and the fairgrounds are right at the edge of town.

A little show on dog training. Note the children in cowboy boots and hats.

4-H, Kid-sized Animal Husbandry

In the first row of stalls, we have fowl and rabbits.

This one was my son's favorite, because it looks like his stuffed bunny.

Golden pheasant!

The next hall is only half-full. I suppose sheep and goats aren't as popular around here.

Slightly Bigger Animals for Slightly Bigger Kids, FFA (Future Farmers of America)

All dairy cows here. The kids who raised most of these are asleep guarding them, already having worked long hours in the heat.

A young, brown heifer came barging in to the barn, bellowing. A kid who must have been around 16 gave it a big, hard shove. A girl was coming up behind the thing. "Is this yours?"

The girl shook her head, but another 16 year old trotted in, grinning like a possum in a junkyard. "I was asleep, sumbitch, I wake up and cows are running at me!"

A dad came and hauled at the cow in a headlock to hold it in place, because it was still trying to push its way in. Another dad rushed up. "Here, use this bridle!" They were able to lead to poor, dumb thing away, and I would have had some interesting pictures but I had taken a few steps back with my son while the folks wrangled the heifer.

SOME PIG

If you get the reference, this heading might also say TERRIFIC or RADIANT. Nothing here nearly as big as Wilbur, and boy, was it smelly. I've grown up in moderate proximity to farm country, been to plenty of barns, and rode horses when I was a kid. But the smell of that many swine in one place is something else ...

The Rest of the Grounds

Didn't enter here, since my boy was getting tired on a very humid day. Plus these much bigger animals were closer together.

Here you can see the southeastern wall of the Decorah Crater in the background. The Upper Iowa River runs between the fairgrounds and the cliff.

Iconic.

One of many business and information stalls. What we have here is instruction on optimal soil health, with the severity of decay to underwear buried for six months in different conditions of dirt. Pretty interesting, n'est-ce pas?

The Petting Zoo!

Goats lined up to gawk at a dog.

Simple life managed chaos.

Llama!

Donkey!

My boy's buddy, a yearling bull.

The obligatory alley of carnies reeling folks in to play games. I don't care for it when they pull attitude when you decline, but I suppose the heat gets to everybody.