Houston County Fair in MN

Thursday, Aug 14 - Sunday, Aug 17 

We went to the Houston County Fair 3 different days. We took a different route to Caledonia where the fair was.  On the way we saw two more barn quilts.  I thought they were pretty so...

I'm going to make this post only the fair but include all 3 days.  It was fun!  

On the fair grounds, the city had moved this old original Presbyterian Church.  Below is an 1880 original house from around the town that was also moved to the fair grounds.

We could only look through the windows of these two old buildings. 

 This greeting sign listed the bigger towns participating in the county fair.

All the vegetables looked so good.  I was visiting with some ladies in this area asking if any of this stuff was ever sold at the fair.  They told me no and to look for local farmers markets.  As we chatted on further I made mention that I would like to be a judge in the berry pie contest.  They told me to go to the office and ask if they were looking for a judge for the berry pie contest,that frequently they did need judges for various contests.  After we left this building we went by the fair office and asked.  They DID need a judge.  I would be judging the next day.  I was excited!.  The only requirement was that I did not know anyone entering the contest.  No problem!  We walked around some more.

A little girl in 4th grade made this top of chainmail for her little brother.  She made each link herself from straight wire, and inter-connected each link herself.  We were impressed.  She called it her chainmail project.  Cute.

There was a section where 2nd graders wrote about what they wanted to do when they grew up.  We thought this one was the cutest.

This huge thing cuts the corn stalks then sucks them in and plucks the corn cobs off the stalks and shoots them out the top yellow shoot that you can only see a piece of.

This piece of equipment cuts the hay for baling.  The children were allowed to climb all over all the tractors and they had a blast.

This little girl watching at this point was washing the cows tail.  By the time we got the camera ready she moved.  She was really cute to watch as she "helped" clean the cow for showing.

Well Dusty was disappointed that only 2 berry pies were entered in the contest.  The pie on the right was a rhubarb raspberry pie.  The pie on the left had a granola crust, cream cheese middle and red raspberries & blackberries on top.

We had separate utensils for each pie.  I tasted the cream cheese pie first.  Yum Yum!  Then I tasted the rhubarb raspberry pie.  OMG!  It was one of the best berry pies I've ever tasted.  The crust was flaky and the pie was not too sweet.  I voted for that pie.  Of course I ate all of both pieces of pie.  As it turned out there were only 2 judges also and the other person agreed with me.

Then we (the judges) learned that the lady made the cream cheese raspberry pie and her daughter made the rhubarb raspberry pies.  The young lady is the daughter/granddaughter and she accepted the award for her mother.

Then after the awards were distributed, Tic got a piece of each pie also.  Yum Yum!!

One afternoon we listened to a singing comedic duo called Tina & Lena.  They were a hoot and very family oriented.   www.tina-lena.com
I've attached the link to their website if you are interested.

Here Tina & Lena have 2 boys on stage singing about fishing in the winter.  

Tic was one of 4 men called up and were introduced as Duck Dynasty guys.  As you can see Tic was given a beard to wear.  The men were told to quack Happy Birthday to this little girl for her birthday.

Here are both Tina & Lena being interviewed on the radio.  They have been performing for 31 years all over the US.  We really enjoyed them.

One evening we watched the Extreme Bull Riding.  Before the bull riding started, the 4Hers practiced their barrell "racing" skills.

Obviously this was the first time for this girl and her horse.  The horse was lead around.

This was one of the more experienced riders.

Here are the bull riders for the evening.  The Pledge Allegiance was being recited.

 These are the rodeo clowns for the evening.

Here's the start.  The following several pictures are several of the bull rides.

This guy hardly made it out of the chute.

Here is a good ride.

Here is another rider that did not make it but just a couple of seconds.

After the above bull lost his rider he ran around the arena and would not go through the gate to the back.  They finally sent this dog out hoping the dog could convince the bull to leave.  That did not work either.  One of the clowns finally got the bull to leave the arena.  It probably lasted nearly 5 mins.  

You can see this guy didn't make it long enough either.

This rider made the 8 seconds but his free hand touched the bull several times.  Here is one of those times.

Here is our second good ride.  Then there was a break and we watched mutton riding.

This is one of the better mutton rides.  It was fun to watch.

This started out as a good ride but he could not hang on for the full 8 seconds.

This bull twisted around so much his horn almost jabbed the rider in the thigh.
 

Back to bull riding.  The bull was after the rider that fell off.  The clown in the pink did his job and got between the bull and rider.  Unfortunately the clown got hit with the bulls horn and thrown a short distance  He was taken to the hospital.  By the end of the show, we learned his jaw was broken.

We took lots of pictures but I think y'all have the idea.  Just in case you could not tell, we had good times at the fair.  Sunday we watched more 4Hers in horse riding games.  The did barrell racing, pole bending and jumping then figure 8s.  We watched children in groups 10 & under all the way up to 17.  Some of the older girls did has well as you see at any rodeo.

It has been a fun stay at Hidden Bluffs.  We will be leaving in the morning for Myre-Big Island State Park in MN.