Gospel Sing Competition finals - youth division

The chairs and bleachers were nearly full at the Grove Stage last night for the Gospel Sing Competition. Here are the singers from the youth division.





















Samantha Rose, 10, from Aurora
























Kelsie Geer, 15, from Battle Ground, WA


















Saturated Glory - sisters Bethany, Savannah and Jessica Niles from Camas, WA
























Megan Mallory, 13, from Sherwood
























Brittney Rush, 16, from Portland



















Sisters Cory and Toni Thompson, 8 and 11

























Kaitlin Smith, 13, from Oregon City

A man's place

John Gibson, 13, of Oregon City knows his place is the 4-H kitchen. With just one hour to make a batch of applesauce and oven-baked pork chops, John gets right to work.
















After putting the pork chops in to bake, John washed his apples.

















Then he put the apples on this cool little peeler-corer thing-a-ma-jig.

















Not all of the apples ended up in the sauce, however.

















John serves up his pork chops topped with applesauce for the judge.

















And then he listens to her feedback about his performance.


Remember fairgoers, when the 4-H kids cook, there are often free samples afterward!

The Golden Wedding Game

It's The Newlywed Game, only for people married at least 50 years. All of the contestants at the 1 p.m. game had been married either 51 or 52 years.















From left to right are:
Earl and Mary Cotton of Oregon City
Dick and Myra Bennett of Canby
Roger and Jan Gardner of Gladstone
Jerry and Rhondi Myra (didn't hear their city)
Lyle and Donna Pierce of Canby

What follows is a collection of moments that capture the agony and hilarity of the game.















Dick Bennett doesn't say anything (out loud) when Myra gets the wrong answer.

Roger and Jan Gardner had a great time.

But probably not as good a time as Jerry and Rhondi Myra had.

That particular wrong answer really caught Myra by surprise.

Earl Cotton can not believe Mary gave that answer.

Well, one of them has a sense of humor about it.

Lyle Pierce drew the biggest gasp of the game when he answered the question, "What was the worst meal your wife cooked when you were first married?" He said, "That's hard because she makes so many things badly." He got off the hook when Donna came back and admitted she couldn't cook when they got married.

Here Donna explains why an early chocolate cake was so bad.

The Myras never stopped having a good time.

Oops, there's another wrong answer for the Bennetts.

A big wagon full of sweetness

I saw John Spring pulling a big wagon down the road just inside the main gate. When I read the sign on the side of the wagon, I just had to talk to him.

John was delivering pies from the Canby Methodist Church to sell here at the fair. It's something the church has been doing for some 50 years. This year the Methodists are baking about 100 pies per day.

John's wife, Arlene Judson, came along shortly after I stopped him for a photo. After a failed attempt to get her to stand in for him, both of them posed together.

John told me that they were married in the Canby Methodist Church back on March 26.

2009.

It turns out John and Arlene are newlyweds.

Eine Kleine Fair Mystery

A little mystery for you. It's probably nothing, but what do you suppose happened here? An abandoned baseball cap and a single, lightly used paper towel on the floor of the men's restroom.

Conspiracy theorists, discuss amongst yourselves!

FFA Advanced Sheep Showmanship

First off let me say I didn't plan to go to the sheep showmanship competition. What happened is that one of the FFA girls saw me standing in the door of the barn and invited me to come. So I figured, why not? And let me tell you, she wasn't atypical - sheep people are really nice!

















The event I saw was advanced sheep showmanship. That is for FFA members who have shown at least once before. There were several preliminary rounds during which I took the above picture. As luck would have it, it features the eventual Reserve Grand Champion, Emily Cook (left), and Grand Champion, Jason Wetzler (second to left). Both Wetzler and Cook are in the North Clackamas FFA.

There's a lot to showmanship, most of which I'm sure I completely missed. But what I did notice is that it is a major undertaking. And that's just the way judge Justin Hull wants it. Before announcing the winners, Hull said he likes his competitions to be marathons and not sprints. He likes see who has the fire and passion and he wants to make the kids sweat. Literally. After what must have been at least a 20- to 30-minute final round, Wetzler came up the winner.
















Wetzler with his Grand Champion ribbon and more than a little of that perspiration judge Hull wanted to see.
















Cook receives her Reserve Grand Champion ribbon from judge Hull.

Fair family spotlight: Mickelsens

Jim Mickelsen and his two daughters Haley (back) and Anna are part of a long-time fair family.

Sitting in front of a Norway Maple his family planted (in background), Mickelsen told me of his family's involvement with the fair over the years. Owners of Canby Nursery, the Mickelsens have planted many of the trees you see on the fairgrounds today, including some on the main lawn.

Mickelsen's mother, Jerry Mickelsen, was Clackamas County fair manager for 19 years, and there is a fountain in her honor near the 4-H exhibit hall just off the main gate road.

Anna and Haley are keeping the tradition alive. Both girls are showing swine this year with their 4-H club and have already won numerous blue ribbons for their vegetables, including beans, cucumbers, zucchini and tomatillos.

Sweets on seats

While strolling the grounds this morning before the gates opened, I happened upon Esther Galloway and some of the fair maintenance crew cleaning all the chairs at the Family Fun Stage.

Because it is a family area, Galloway says that the chairs can get sticky from little kids and all their cotton candy and elephant ears.

Asked which is worse, Galloway, a student at Corbin College in Salem, said, "Elephant ears, because cotton candy breaks down with water."

Rest assured that when you sit at the fair, foreign substances of all solubilities have been removed for your comfort.

Two-person goat tote

Sophia Ghioni and Skyler Lee-Stiles, 4-H members who both live in Portland, bring in water for Skyler's two Boer goats. Sophia has one Boer goat of her own in this year's fair.

The question everyone is asking

Admit it. You've been driving yourself crazy wondering how many stomachs a pygmy goat has. Well, thanks to this excellent visual aid in the goat barn, your answer is here.

Of course, I'm not going to give it away. You'll have to come and lift the flap yourself.

Warning: Not for those with multiple-stomach sensitivity!

Jumping and jiving in the sheep barn

Nicole Schwartz of Molalla, (in red) was giving her sheep a final trim for the FFA Novice Showmanship competition, but it wasn't making things easy for her.

The crossbreed kept lunging while Nicole worked to pretty it up. Luckily, fellow Molalla FFA member Rachel Griffith (in blue) was there to wrangle the feisty animal. Rachel said she'd never had a sheep want to get away so badly.

With a good sense of humor, the girls persevered and finished the job.

Drama in the parking lot

Last night someone drove into a guy wire for one of the light posts in the parking lot, pulling it down along with the electrical wires to the lot's other two light poles. It was a hit-and-run, according to head of security Michael Rambow (driving golf cart).
















Rambow points out the repair work taking place to parking attendant Tracy Miller.
















Parking attendant Andrew Hunter (in hat), reacts to the news of the downed pole.

Wednesday's picks

Happy Wednesday fairgoers!

Today is senior day. Everyone 65 or better gets in for just $2 - unless you are 75, in which case you get in free.

But wait, there's more! Grandparents who qualify for the discount, can bring grandchildren 15 and younger for just $2.

Here are my top picks for today:

• 4-H beef showmanship, 10 a.m., Ring A
• Ice cream social, caboose near picnic area, free ice cream with ticket for seniors, noon to 3 p.m
• Portraits and sketching demonstration by Bob Shoopman, 1 p.m., upstairs in Main Pavilion
  
• FFA swine showmanship, 2 p.m., Covered Show Ring
  

On top of all that, today has two absolutely-must-not-miss events:

• Golden Wedding Game, 11 a.m. and 1 p.m., Grove Stage
• Gospel Sing Competition finals, 7 p.m., Grove Stage

And here is the full schedule for this wild and woolly Wednesday.

Are you ready for this much fun?