The 4 H show.

As promised I have decided to share my experiences of the four day 4H show in Winamac. We sauntered down in the early evening, just 1/2 a mile from our house. As we approached the sounds got louder. Voices, music, animals and children's laughter.....Dress was casual and country style. The kids look so cute in their country shirts, jeans and boots....Everyone is sporting a tan, some more than others I might add.... Hats and sunscreen are not high on the agenda here.... There is dust rising in the sunset and the smell of fast food mixed with those of the penned animals...4H is about young people. Children of all ages are visible and appear to be working at various tasks. We sat by one arena and enjoyed a pork burger washed down with diet coke.... one might say a little callous as the hogs are being groomed for their performances in the ring... and are highly prized. I believe they are then sold for their body parts later in the week......eek....We watched fascinated as 2 men coifed, dusted, sprayed and trimmed their prize cow. The hogs were covered in baby oil to make them shine under the lights...Families shared conversation, food and laughter. A local dignitary was dunked by throwing a ball at the dunking machine and the Princess and the Queen of the festival were announced. The Queen received an orange Mustang to drive around town for a week......!!!! Not too shabby I reckon.There wasn't a carnival with rides as such.... everyone just seemed happy to just be there.....We checked the prize produce, the tractors lined up for the tractor pull. We visited the rabbits, and sheep and later in the week there are to be horse antics....Late in the evening there were fireworks and folk line the streets of the town sitting in family groups to watch the performance... the smell of powder and BBQ is heavy in the air. Anyone can let of fireworks... and we were surrounded by a cacophony of sound.4th of July, performance and a celebration of a nation.... and we were able to be part of it....FANTASTIC