Can’t you almost smell it? The combination of kettle corn being hawked next to the vendor selling cotton candy means only one thing and that it is county fair time. I will admit that I knew that the fair was going on no more than one mile from my home and I did not attend and I have not attended for the last fifteen years. I have vivid fair memories that I can play back at any given time with just the closing of my eyes as I am sitting on the patio with a cup of coffee.
My Mom and Dad allowed me to be in 4-H during our my pre-teen years. It was not an easy sell as there really was no time for foolishness on the farm. After all, we had work to do. One night as we were eating supper Corrine Ewert called and ask if they could pick me up and take me along to the District 34 schoolhouse as that is where the Boon Lake 4-H club was holding their monthly meetings. I begged and begged and Dad agreed after I had finished with the milking chores. I was done and cleaned up, sitting on the house steps when Corrine and her folks came for me.
Of course I got to join and in time my Mom became an adult leader for sewing and baking. We enrolled in projects and that enrollment was complete with record keeping as we worked towards the end goal: taking entries to the McLeod County Fair in Hutchinson in the fall of the year. You cannot believe how kids with no other social outlet other than attending rural School District 34 could get so excited about sewing an apron or baking a loaf of bread. Saturdays were high drama in the kitchen as I went about soaking my cake of yeast in just the right temperature for a batch of bread. The goal was perfect domed loafs with no crack on the sides that would indicate it had not risen equally and I had not shaped it correctly.
In time to come the challenge was to enter “Silent Bread Baking” and ‘Silent Pie Baking” 
competitions at the fair that would be preformed in front of an audience. The preparation included having all the ingredients measured out beforehand. From the words “Time begins now,” all the steps needed to be done in sequence. I had practiced over and over at home to make sure I kept the mixing area tidy and didn’t forget any of the ingredients and executed the steps with ease and grace. The judges sat right in the front row and had their check lists and the outcome was not known until the bread or pie were out of the oven and had been tasted. It was a great challenge for self confidence. Who knew that in time to come as a county assessor I would draw from that ability time after time to be in front of a group to state clearly the information I would present.
About the same time I was a card carrying 4-Her, my sister Elvera gave me a photo album for Christmas. At the time I thought it was just the most fantastic thing that came out of Minneapolis’ shops as it had my name on the front cover. Within it the ribbons that I won at the fair over the years found a home. At the bottom of the cedar chest in our walk-up attic the ribbons are still safe.
I learned at an early age how smart my Mom was. She taught other girls in our 4-H club her wonderful baking and sewing secrets so they, too, would be proud ribbon winners. In the end, how could my family go wrong? Every Saturday and even days in between I was trying new recipes or working my whiles at the sewing machine, mending clothes for my brothers and my Dad. Sometimes the boys even got new pajamas from some feed sacks with funky looking prints.
My 4-H years never went to waste as I began a family of my own. I believe even if 4-H had never come into play I would have been expanding what I learned at the elbow of my Mom. She always inspired me to try something new. At a time when we had moved to Watonwan County and I missed seeing Mom as often as when I live just several township sections away from her I began working on sewing quilt tops. One of the patterns that Mom shared with me spurred me on to make a quilt for Kevin. Orlin helped me to put up a quilt frame in the dining room of the house we were in at the time and I slowly buy surely began sewing my first hand-sewn quilt. The pattern name was Jacob’s ladder. In 1979 I again found myself entering an exhibit into the local county fair, not in Hutchinson for the McLeod County Fair but in St. James for the Watonwan County fair. We were new to the area and this was a step out of my comfort zone. Once I stepped into the registration office with my quilt it brought back some of the same butterflies of the silent bread baking days.
The 1979 Quilt with the Jacob’s Ladder Pattern
I am here to tell you all that there may be times when we feel we could have, should have, and might have done differently with our time on God’s earth, but we do what we can when we can with all the abilities that God has allowed. When Orlin and I went back to visit the fair and all it had to offer a feather could have knocked me over when I saw what was attached to my quilt. Agnes Randby had been the championship winner of hand sewn quilts for many consecutive years at the Watonwan County Fair. In the calendar year of 1979 my quilt had won the highest ribbon of the fair in the “Pieced and Hand Sewn” category. I found out later that Agnes spent a lot of time at the fair trying to catch a glimpse of the person that had won the honors that year as my name was virtually unknown to the quilters of the area.
The Sweepsteak Ribbon for the 1979 Jacob’s Ladder Quilt
Since 1979 I have continued making quilted items of all sizes for many family members. As I enjoy each and every one that I make, my heart goes right back to my Mom and what she taught me in my life. My Mom is my hero. Fairs are in the air and I can sit back and so appreciate the butterflies that continue as many bring their wares in for their product to be looked at. My absence at fairs only drives home the fact that I am just so darn content here in my home on Stauffer Avenue. It’s a good thing.
