A Great First Day at the Fair!
What a great day for a Fair! My husband and I were there for about 10 hours today and we will be back again tomorrow. Whoo hoo!
We had a great time running into friends, eating, attending 4-H presentations, scouting out food vendors, watching dogs jump into a big pool of water, snacking, and watching eight teenagers get hypnotized and prance around a stage with full belief they were runway models and on the reunion tour for *NSYNC.
Food-wise, my inaugural corn-on-the-cob from the Young Life booth was as tasty as ever. Actually, it seemed better this year — sweeter, I think. I was also excited to see that Young Life is now offering some hot wings on their menu. I will be trying those in the days to come. Much to my disappointment, the Grizzly Kabob stand that used to be right outside the Grandstand entrance is gone. I tried a nearby vendor’s version of chocolate-covered strawberries on a stick but they were not nearly as good. The strawberries were smaller and frozen and the chocolate wasn’t the same higher quality that Grizzly offered. If anyone discovers Grizzly hiding somewhere else in the Fairgrounds, please let me know!
I also had a moment of panic when I could not locate the Fried Food Heaven Truck from last year — the mecca for all things gooey, fried, and smothered in chocolate sauce. After some sleuthing, I learned that the truck (with new signage) is back but they now have two locations. One location (near the Pad Thai booth) is only selling funnel cakes and corn dogs and other typical Fair Fare. The other location — around the corner near the Dippin’ Dots booth — is where the Deep Fried Fun is. Among their deep fried offerings: Oreos, Twinkies, Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups, Snickers, cheesecake, Pop Tarts, and my indulgence tonight…chocolate chip cookie dough. Although I doubt anything will ever outshine the wonderfulness of a deep fried Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup, the deep fried cookie dough was pretty darn tasty. The dough was warm and melty enough to be gooey and delightfully messy. It was a bit of a disaster to eat, though, so be sure to have a stash of napkins nearby. My first bite resulted in cookie dough squirting out in several directions and powdered sugar dusting my socks. Totally worth the load of laundry when I got home, though!
In addition to scouting out the food scene, I also spent some time today tracking down Fair t-shirts and hats. Some of you might remember and even own some of the logo-wear from prior years, with “CLARK COUNTY FAIR EST. 1868” in blocky, western-ish letters. I have a t-shirt, a hoodie, and a baseball hat with that logo and last year I was all set to get another shirt in a different color only to be directed to a booth of really measly offerings. Last year’s shirts merely said, “Summer’s Best Party.” No reference at all to our Fair. Truly, I could have worn that shirt to a BBQ to schmooze the hosts. There was also a shirt design last year that mimicked the Fair’s website. It was cute and colorful but honestly too busy. I commented and complained several times to several Fair employees last year with high hopes that the old traditional design would be back this year. And? Sorta yes!
If you want to wear a souvenir with the logo shown below, you can design your own at a booth near the Community of Christ (“Church Ladies”) Pie booth. Chatting with people who seemed to know, it appears that the Fair has given the vendor permission to use the design and font however they wish. The vendor has a stock of t-shirts and hats but you are welcome to bring your own. As of today they were ready to run screen prints. They hope to have the embroidery function up and running in the next day or so. So, all in all, I am very excited about this new development. I can finally get another t-shirt! And maybe a sweatshirt! Even cooler: the vendor is a local guy that has a permanent location at the Van Mall called “Linez of Design.” So not only is the Fair supporting local businesses, we can get Fair Logo Wear anytime throughout the year. YAY progress!
