Keith's Column: The heart of the fair and rodeo
<p>The Mineral County Fair and Rodeo has one common theme that ties it together: community. Whether it's sharing your love of quilting or getting into the arena with friends and milking wild cows.</p>
It’s taken almost this entire week to recover from the all-out attack on the senses that is the Mineral County Fair and Rodeo – from the thrill of watching bronc riding to the horrifying hilarity of the wild cow milking to the efforts of 4H students and Cabin Fever Quilters, the fair is truly something special.
However, in the flurry of photos and excitement of preparing newspaper spreads I neglected the most important aspect of the event. I neglected what it means to community, its role as a reunion of sorts for the entire county.
Talking to several locals over the course of the fair while listening to the evenings tune or taking a break from shooting those insane men who ride broncs and bulls it was obvious.
“I just absolutely love this,” one resident said to me. “Every year I look forward to visiting with people I haven’t seen in ages. Funny thing too is that every year I end up running into somebody I didn’t get to visit with the year before.”
As somewhat of an outsider to the community, it was a pleasure to get to witness the many mini-reunions occurring. To get to walk with a friend or two and see a common scene repeat itself over and over again.
“Oh hey!” they would say. “How are you?”
Sometimes it was as simple as that, and then I would get to hear about how my friends hadn’t seen that particular person in years. Other times I would stand and watch as they caught up.
Coming from a place with such a large population it is special to witness this for many reasons, most important being the fact that Mineral County might not be where someone lives forever but it’s somewhere that will always hold a place in one’s heart.
That heart, that pride in the roots established and cultivated here is what makes the Mineral County Fair and Rodeo one in a million.
There aren’t carnival rides. There isn’t a demolition derby. There aren’t a myriad of deep fried foods and vendors (but seriously all you need is about four Catholic Church cheeseburgers each day – those things are addicting).
But there is one thing that the big fairs can never have. There is a family of both current and past residents.
That family. That one basic element makes the fair and rodeo something truly special.