PHOTOS BY JENNIFER COLTON
Grown-ups may ride the bulls and rock the Main Stage, but the “Fun for the Whole Herd” fair has plenty for Umatilla County’s younger residents.
From the carnival rides to mutton bustin’, pony rides to petting zoos, the fair is keeping kids smiling. On Friday, children tasted Hermiston watermelon, donned colorful face paint, gathered balloons and tested their skills in the tractor pull, but, for some, the fair wasn’t just play.
Hundreds of children from 4-H, FFA and other clubs brought animals big and small for judging competitions, feeding, caring and showing their animals. Friday, Hermiston’s Annika Jennings, 12, answered questions about her prize-winning Guinea pig, Cassie.
“I used to show sheep, but Guinea pigs are just a lot of fun. They talk a lot to each other and they have huge personalities,” she said.
While ribbons already graced the cages of fluffy bunnies to heavy-weight turkeys in the small animal barn across the pathway, other students cleaned and combed sheep for Friday’s ovine competitions. While the sheep and their owners – many wearing the well-known blue corduroy Hermiston High FFA jackets – prepped anxiously, another group was relaxing in the stands at the Les Schwab Stage.
In their matching neon green T-shirts, the children in the Fun at the Fair Day Camp were also easily recognizable. Thirty-four campers, in kindergarten through fifth grade, made the Umatilla County fairgrounds their home-away-from home this week. From 8:30 a.m. – 4:30 p.m., the campers learned about arts and sciences, took in fair entertainment and had a backstage pass to all things Umatilla County Fair.
“It’s going great,” camp coordinator Tammy Wagner said. “The kids get to learn everything about the fair, and every year it’s something different.”
On Friday, the campers not only performed their own dance on a stage, they were able to get up close and personal with the gadgets and gizmos the Portland group, “The Tangled Threads,” used in their performance.
“It’s all about having fun,” Jason Arquin said, watching fellow Tangled Thread Jen Forti demonstrate instruments for the campers after Friday afternoon’s show. “They’re enjoying it.”
Although Fun at the Fair didn’t get to take in the Davis Carnival during the day, they did each receive a wristband for the carnival, and, from the screams and squeals coming from the midway each evening this week, the carnival was a delight for both children and adults.
The Umatilla County Fair wraps up today, but with the Prettiest Baby Contest, Watermelon Spitting Contest, the last day of the Davis Carnival and the Youth Livestock Auction on tap, the fairgrounds will keep kids hopping until bedtime.
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