Comments from the Canyons: County fairs remain important

Let's thank all those people who participated in the Quay County Fair. Their efforts and talents are most definitely appreciated. Although the drought adversely affected the produce exhibits, we did get to see some results of major efforts to have gardens in the area.

Fairs have been popular in our county since the days before statehood, and we can but hope they will remain so. In those early days, many of the communities had their own fairs before the county fair got under way. They even had their parades to celebrate the occasion. Although such communities as Quay or House might not have had many buildings at the time, the settlers wanted to show off their teams, wagons, and other equipment of the era. They would parade up and down the road for quite a while and were watched by friends and relatives who stood beside that road. The celebrations represented the end of the growing season and often the beginning of school.

Our county fairs remain important throughout the state, particularly for the 4H and FFA people who take their livestock on to the State Fair in Albuquerque. Just watching the young people working with their animals is a major treat. We see the love and respect they have for those animals and know just a little about all the work that goes into preparing them for the fairs.

This years was a good year in which to admire the many exhibits inside the fair building- Those exhibits show the work of people of all ages and give us a chance to admire the talent required to prepare items for the fair. We were privileged to see all sorts of handwork, art, cooking, canning, gardening, and hobbies. Again, we had the opportunity to see how much could be done with bits of twine, twigs, and other small items. We were also able to see the talent that people of all ages showed by using their cameras and capturing history beauty or personalities.

Of course, being able to visit with so many people from throughout the county is one of the major pleasures of attending the fair. Often we don't see each other except during that time because we don't really have any central meeting places in the area. We have to catch up on a year's worth of news and savor it until we meet next year at the same time.

We really are fortunate to have so many people who want to share their talents with us. The competition is great for them so they can see where they place among their peers. Let's encourage that competition so we can have an even larger showing next year. We'll just wait for the results!

Lynn Moncus is a Tucumcari resident and can be contacted through the Quay County Sun by calling 461-1952.