Festival

It's September and it's Festival Season in southern Ohio. This will continue until it's too cold to be outside.

I suppose that's the way its been since the white man settled here 200 years ago. The county fairs started as a get together to enjoy the harvest and compare farming methods. The Highland County Fair opens Sunday but we will be at the church festival.

Last night was the first time we have been involved with setting up that festival. 60 people or so showed up after 6 pm to set up all the poles and prepare to fill them with the various games and exhibits that makes the festival a draw to church and non-church attenders.

It was pretty much no nonsense and get the job done type of work. LuAnn and Judy were busy typing in all the donations and bid and value amounts for the bid sheets and envelopes. I was pretty much in the way and I quickly saw I could really confuse the matter so I wrote down all the items I could recognize in the storage room.

Last year the silent auction netted $7000 and we had no idea how this would pan out until we started inventory on everything donated. There are tons of valuable coupons for everything under the sun but the acutal items is what draws bidders eye to the bid sheets.

I still think we need a pedal tractor for a draw so I am going to see what I can do about getting one today. There are lots of new patio furniture and decorations to catch country people's eyes. I think the bird house that looks like a racoon will be one of many good bid drawing items but the farm toys will be a good draw, too.

Today we finish freezing the sweet corn and harvest tomatoes, onions and peppers if we can get it done. It feels good to have a freezer full of fresh vegetables again and the church will get the best tomatoes for the dinners Sunday. Those dinners are a very big draw to the annual festival.

It's hot again here and the crops need the growing degree days to mature even though they really need a good soaking.

Ed