(no subject)
Went to the Benton County Fair this evening after work. Took the bus because I knew parking was going to be Scary Bad Crazy, and $3 for a round trip on the bus beats the $5 for parking anyway.
Spent $12 to get in. Spent $10 on some nachos and a drink for dinner. Spent $2 to play one game of Dozer. Wandered around for *maybe* two and a half hours, if you stretch it out a bit. Was generally unimpressed - particularly by the sales booths and displays, which are kind of the reason I decided to go to the fair in the first place. Considering the Tri Cities has a combined population of around 200,000 people, I was expecting way more. The Central Wisconsin State Fair held every year back home - which takes place in a town with a whopping 20,000 people - puts the Benton County fair to shame. More displays, more booths, and more Stuff To See over all.
Also, whoever judged the photo contest did not do a very good job. There were some *amazing* pictures that only got 2nd or 3rd place, and some Not So Great photos ended up with 1st place ribbons. The "Best of Show" were pretty good, though, so I suppose the judges weren't completely blind. Or I might just be feeling particularly snobbish today, who knows.
I was, however, quite pleased with the choice for the "Best of Show" painting for... I think it was "Intermediate", whatever that means (the "classes" were Junior, Intermediate, and Senior for every section - photos, crafts, baked goods, etc. No clue how the participants were divided up into these groups). It was a rather fantastic painting of a snowy woods with a small pond in the middle of it and an aurora across a starry sky. Very impressive for a 4H craft.
Anyway, that was how I spent my evening. I won't say it was a complete loss - even if the judges were mostly blind, there were still a few really great photographs, and I got to pet some goats. However, I'm definitely not convinced it was worth the $25 or so bucks I put into it.
Spent $12 to get in. Spent $10 on some nachos and a drink for dinner. Spent $2 to play one game of Dozer. Wandered around for *maybe* two and a half hours, if you stretch it out a bit. Was generally unimpressed - particularly by the sales booths and displays, which are kind of the reason I decided to go to the fair in the first place. Considering the Tri Cities has a combined population of around 200,000 people, I was expecting way more. The Central Wisconsin State Fair held every year back home - which takes place in a town with a whopping 20,000 people - puts the Benton County fair to shame. More displays, more booths, and more Stuff To See over all.
Also, whoever judged the photo contest did not do a very good job. There were some *amazing* pictures that only got 2nd or 3rd place, and some Not So Great photos ended up with 1st place ribbons. The "Best of Show" were pretty good, though, so I suppose the judges weren't completely blind. Or I might just be feeling particularly snobbish today, who knows.
I was, however, quite pleased with the choice for the "Best of Show" painting for... I think it was "Intermediate", whatever that means (the "classes" were Junior, Intermediate, and Senior for every section - photos, crafts, baked goods, etc. No clue how the participants were divided up into these groups). It was a rather fantastic painting of a snowy woods with a small pond in the middle of it and an aurora across a starry sky. Very impressive for a 4H craft.
Anyway, that was how I spent my evening. I won't say it was a complete loss - even if the judges were mostly blind, there were still a few really great photographs, and I got to pet some goats. However, I'm definitely not convinced it was worth the $25 or so bucks I put into it.