Finishing touches were being added Tuesday in advance of Thursday’s opening of the 173rd Porter County Fair.
Graham Thompson, 9, a member of the Morgan Sodbusters, was building a Lego goose for the second time Tuesday morning after someone bumped into his project and it came apart.
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“He reacted better than me,” Graham’s mother, Megan Thompson, said. “He was hurrying me out of the house.”
“This is his first year. It’s his first 4-H project,” the only one he’s entering this year, Megan said.
Graham said the project took him about a week to build the first time because he didn’t have all the parts. He was diligently working to assemble them.
Fair Board Secretary Holly King was adding bunting to the stage at the pavilion, a building finished just in time for the fair. Now the performers using that stage don’t have to use a tent. The pavilion has open sides for ventilation.
Al Hancock, of Valparaiso, watched and reminisced as grandkids Carter Biggs and Brinley Biggs, of Kouts, decorated the pens for their goats.
Hancock and Laura Thompson, his sweetheart of 20 years, met at a Beach Boys concert at the Porter County Fair in 2004. Both Hancock and Thompson had been widowed.
Thompson’s daughter worked at Tractor Supply Co., where Hancock also worked before retiring at age 80. Their seats were together, with just their daughters between them.
“We danced all night,” Thompson said, and have been dancing together ever since.
The similarities are remarkable. They both raised dairy cattle as 4-H’ers as kids, Hancock in Jasper County and Thompson in LaPorte County.
At one point, they lived three blocks from each other but didn’t know that until later, Hancock said.
They each have fond memories of being at a county fair as kids.
Hancock went to the fair on Sunday and didn’t leave until the following Friday night. “There were several of us who did that,” he said. “After things quieted down, we got crazy.”
That’s an experience today’s kids won’t have, he said.
Grandson Carter has done well, including earning grand champion two years in a row with different goats.
Trent Albert, of Porter, was judging photos Tuesday. “It’s difficult. You’ve got to put yourself in the kid’s position,” he said.
“It’s really interesting what they choose,” Albert said. Some might get all their photos from a single vacation, while others might take longer to build their portfolio.
Every time Albert judges photos, he sees entries that make him hope the kids will continue to take photos, he said.
Sara Christopher, of Valparaiso, judged cake decorating entries, working alongside cake decorating Superintendent Amber O’Rourke, of LaPorte. They weren’t tempted to take a bite of one of the cakes before the fair even started.
The round cakes are actually chunks of Styrofoam, Christopher said, with the icing applied on top to hide the answer to the “is it cake” question.
“The icing hardens like spackling in your walls,” O’Rourke said, and should hold up for a long time.
Participants are judged on criteria that include attention to detail, color choice and creativity, among others. As the participants get older, their skill level is expected to improve.
“Places will hire kids based on their projects,” O’Rourke said, so there’s value in doing advanced projects well.
Computers Superintendent Bob Wichlinski is proud of the kids who participated in those fair projects this year. “This has minimal, if any, parental involvement,” he said.
Wichlinski asked each entrant to pose with their project so Mom and Dad could have a photo. The kids might not appreciate it now, but they will in the future, he said.
Among the entries were a programmable circuit for cooling a greenhouse and an American flag made of colored ping pong balls arranged in 3D-printed holders.
Fair Manager Dave Bagnall said when he went to the LaPorte County Fair, he ran into LaPorte Superior Court Judge Richard Stalbrink Jr., a big 4-H supporter. “There’s a thousand kids in 4-H, and I’ll never see one of them in my courtroom,” Stalbrink told Bagnall, because 4-H teaches them to be good citizens.
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“They grow up to be great people and leaders of their community,” Bagnall said.
Bagnall has been working at the fair, especially recruiting the grandstand acts, for 15 years. Bailey Zimmerman, performing Friday, is close to a sellout, the 14th since Bagnall began recruiting the talent, he said.
There are other big names lined up, including Flo Rida on Sunday and repeat favorite Trace Adkins on Monday.
Bagnall raised calves as a youth and went through Valparaiso University without getting in debt as a result. Of course, college costs were much cheaper then.
Bagnall’s daughter, Holly King, isn’t a former 4-H participant but grew up at the fair.
“I grew up in the commercial building,” she said. She later became a ticket taker and helped with the grandstand shows, getting a well-rounded education in how fairs are operated.
New at the fair this year is a sensory-friendly trailer for anyone who needs a place to calm down. “It’s soundproofed. It has calming music and low lights,” King said.
The Buggy Wheel Pavilion’s restrooms are now air-conditioned, so all restrooms except portable toilets will be cool throughout the fair.
Pedal Town has been expanded, thanks to a grant from the Kankakee Valley REMC’s Operation Roundup program. Kids can ride pedal tractors, operate a combine via a simulator and more. “It’s enclosed, so it’s a nice place for families to go,” King said.
High-top tables were built by Fair Board members, with 30 of them scattered throughout the fairgrounds for people to enjoy their food without sitting at a picnic table.
Flowers were donated and are being distributed throughout the fairgrounds, too.
“Two more sleeps, we’re ready for Thursday,” King said.
For more on the Porter County Fair, go to www.portercountyfair.com.
Doug Ross is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.