And so it begins. The Baraga County Fair is this weekend, and with it the beginning of the “Fair Season.” With the exception of next weekend, there’s a fair somewhere in the region each weekend clear into September. I love fairs, mainly because fairs, in particular the UP State Fair, are a big part of my childhood. I grew up in the 1960s in a little town smack dab in the middle of the UP, the Delta County community of Rock. There was no amusement park anywhere near where I grew up. As a matter of fact, I was nearly 30 years old before I stepped foot in an amusement park for the first time — Great America (now Six Flags – Great America) near Chicago. But I didn’t feel disadvantaged. We had something better … the UP State Fair in Escanaba. To me and my family, the fair was many things rolled into one thrilling week. I grew up in a “4-H Family.” Both my parents were 4-H leaders and my sister, brother and I had many 4-H achievements. Because Delta County did not have a county fair, the UP event filled that void. And we Delta County 4-H kids, pretty much had the run of the place.

From the time I was 10 or so through high school, my family camped at Pioneer Trail Park outside of Escanaba during Fair week. My dad worked in Escanaba so camping there saved him a 60 mile round trip daily. Because my sister and I had so many 4-H related activities surrounding the fair, it became our second home during the second week of August. I didn’t grow up on a farm and had no livestock to show, but because of 4-H I had a large number of friends who did. The fair gave me a chance to reconnect with fellow “4-H ers” from Delta, Dickinson, Menominee, Alger, Marquette and many other locations in the UP. There were girls from other clubs that I had crushes on and who, supposedly, had crushes on me, but nothing ever became of any of it. This, of course, was long before social media, so unless you took the time to write letters, which we never did, you had to wait until the next 4-H e vent to see each other.

During my high school years, I had to split time between the fair and football practice. I’d bum rides to or from Rock from friends and family. Somebody was always going to or from Escanaba during Fair Week. I’d spend time working the youth building, helping out various 4-H clubs as needed. Sometimes I was needed at one of the livestock barns to do some chores. Tasks that I enjoyed because it was a novelty to me, but didn’t thrill my mother who had to wash the “barn clothes” 30 miles from home.

After high school I stopped going to the fair, a summer job downstate kept me from going. I returned to the fair in 1994 as the Houghton County 4-H program assistant. I delivered exhibits from here to there. I also reconnected with some folks from my youth who were still doing the 4-H thing.

While I haven’t returned to the Escanaba Fair in decades, I make it a point to get to the county fairs around here. I love the simplicity of the Baraga County Fair, the excitement over the events such as the Mud Bog and great musical entertainment. As is the case in any fair I attend, I make it a point to visit the livestock barns. While much smaller than the number of entrees I grew up with, the dedication of livestock folk is impressive.

During my brief time at a radio station in Ontonagon, I became involved with their County Fair in Greenland. At the time it was the smallest local fair, but the highlight for me was the antique tractors on display, including steam powered tractors. Other than the UP state Fair, the Dickinson County Fair was about the biggest. Incredible dairy cattle, stock car racing and good ol country music, made, and still makes, the event in Norway one of the greatest UP experiences.

Of course the greatest County Fair in the UP is right here in our back yard, the Houghton County Fair in Hancock. It never ceases to entertain and it indeed has something for everyone.

I’ve often joked about stepping off of the boat onto Mackinaw Island to be greeted by the combined aroma of fudge and manure. The smell of a fair, goes one better combining the scents of deep fried food, cottin candy, popcorn and barn. And no matter which fair I attend, nor where it is, I’m taken back to a much simpler and dearly missed place in my past.