The Price is Fair game show

Tonight was the first-ever The Price is Fair game show. Audience members signed up beforehand to play a down-home version of The Price is Right. Here is some of what happened during the first half.


Because the show started about a half hour late, sound man Randy Sommers started an impromptu and inspired game of identifying television theme songs he had on CD. It was good fun, but a little disturbing seeing how quickly people recognized the music from MacGyver, Mork and Mindy, and even Airwolf.



There was a pretty good turn out. Every person with a name tag was a registered contestant.



Contestant number one was Jason.



Contestant number two was Amanda.



Contestant number three was Patricia. And contestant number four was Nick, but all my photos of him were blurry.



When Patricia won the first round, she got to come up on stage and play for a set of finish trim tools. The stage girls (including Miss Washington County, Kaya McGrath and previously mentioned drag racer Kayla Nail) showed them off with their best Charlie's Angels pose.



A good pick for Patricia.



The last contestant called in the first half was Matt.



Kaitlyn (spelling a total guess) was the fourth contestant called. How much should she bid for a welcome sign with an elk on it?

Washboard Willy

Washboard Willy doesn't just appear on stage at show time. Rather, Willy, who also answers to Larry Hiskett, straps on his custom-made washboard, hitches himself to his 750-pound motorized rhythm jalopy Rocko, and marches in the front gate, singing and playing as he goes.

This entrance takes Hiskett, 60, right past the door of my secret blogging cave. When I heard him going by the first time, I got up from my keyboard and went to see.

I was ready to be mildly amused by him, but there's more to Willy than props and a goofy persona. What I saw instead is how good he makes people feel. I was struck by how this lifelong drummer and former landscape architect is living a life that is both genuine and generous.

As Willy performed on the Main Lawn, people smiled while children danced and played percussion instruments he provided. In the back, a man in a wheelchair waved a large American flag gently back and forth.

For me, Washboard Willy perfectly captures and adds to the goodness that is at the heart of this great fair.

Yeehaw - I'm farming baby!

Future farmer Zola Coleman, 8 1/2 months, lets out a whoop as she dreams of days on the farm and endless fields of corn.

That's a big tire

Big tires are fun wherever you find them.


Ben Millar of Millar's Hiway Tire Factory in Canby brought a great big tractor tire to his tent at the fair this year (on far left).



Tyler Nicholson, 6, from Vancouver provides a sense of scale.

If you want one of these tractor tires for your child, the cost is about $1850. Ben says he doesn't sell too many of them.

But I'll bet it feels good when he does.

Rooster crowing contest

A rooster crowing contest is just simple old-fashioned fair fun. And it's surprisingly compelling as the birds trade outbursts back and forth.



James Stafford, 12, of Molalla, had the loudest bird in the contest. Ooster, his Plymouth Bard Rock belted out 17 crows in 10 minutes.



But Eve Hallock, 12, of Wilsonville won the contest. Glamorgan, her Blue Light Brown Dutch let out 19 somewhat quieter crows. Eve and Glamorgan won last year too, with 22 crows.

Llama obstacle course

I had no idea how interesting llamas are.

Not only are they pack animals, they can be trained to be therapy animals as well. Clean by nature, they tend to do their business only outside. More than that, they only go in one spot in a pasture.

Lissa Hettervig, assistant superintendent for llamas, says the animals will spit, but generally only when provoked. She says that when they do, however, "It's the foulest stuff ever."

At the obstacle course today, there was no spitting, but the llamas didn't always follow the course.

Here are a couple of competitors in the junior class.






Caroline Haroldson, 11, of Lake Oswego, leads Cello over a ramp.



An impressive jump through the "ring of fire."



It took some doing, but Caroline finished with a smile.



Suzie Geisler, 10, of Aurora tries to get Allex to put both front feet inside the tire.



Allex is having none of that.




Allex didn't want to jump through the ring either.



So Suzie walked away then jogged through it and Allex followed!

Table settings

Here are a couple of open class table settings that caught my eye as I walked through the Kitchen Cupboard in the Main Pavilion.


Leah Mellmer of Milwaukie won first place in the junior division and took the Theme Award prize for her "Midway Fare" entry. Click on photo to enlarge and check out the clever place mats.




This second-place winner in the adult division did a Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire themed table setting. I wish I could credit the exhibitor, but the name was covered up by the second-place sticker. Dang!

Cookies fresh out of the oven

Clackamas County Grange members are selling fresh-baked cookies in the back of Horning Hall. It's only $1.25 for three and the delicious aromas are free.


Eileen Dale (in white) and her husband Jim Dale bustle about the kitchen and watch for cookie eaters at the front counter. Alice Hayden (in pink), a friend of Eileen's, is not in Grange but said she helped out one day last year and it was really fun.



Jake Lindquist, 13, of Canby (in white) buys three chocolate chip cookies. His friend, Ryan Purbaugh, 12, (in red shirt), didn't wait to start in on his. Ryan said he's had the cookies before and they're great. Jake told me he comes for the cookies every year.



Anita Miles knows that if you work at the cooling racks...


You can get a sample now and then.

Fun cookie fact: Clackamas County Grange sold 14,000 cookies at last year's fair.

4-H speeches

It appears there is a 4-H event for everything. I haven't found the cold-fusion projects yet, but I'm sure they're here. Anyway, for those of you keeping track at home, be sure to add public speaking to the list of 4-H undertakings.


So I got to listen to two young men give presentations this morning.



Cody Wafford, 12, of Sandy was up first. His short talk was about General Motor's OnStar communications, security, navigation and diagnostics service. Besides being informative, I was struck with Cody's poise. He also scored a good laugh when he said that the nice thing about OnStar is that they don't hang up on you like an angry ex-girlfriend.

Cody Wafford during his presentation about OnStar services.

Mark Geisler, 12, of Aurora was up next. His presentation was titled - let me check my notes to make sure I get this right - Coccidiosis in Ruminants.

It seems like kids won't talk about anything else these days - coccidiosis this and coccidiosis that. Nevertheless, Mark did a pretty good job making the subject fresh and interesting.

But seriously, as if the topic wasn't impressive enough, Mark went on to give 8 1/2 minutes of scholarly dissertation on this horrible affliction which is afflicting large numbers of animals of the ruminant variety. His presentation included microscope images of the blobby little buggers responsible for symptoms including a host of digestive system unpleasantries.

Death was also a possible symptom if I recall correctly.

Properly warmed up, the audience was itching to know which medication they should use for coccidiosis. I wouldn't have wanted to wade into the whole Ablon vs. Corid controversy, but Mark tackled it head-on.

He had a perfectly prepared bibliography and made a point to publicly acknowledge the vetrinarians and various experts and diginitaries he used as references.

My faviorite visual aid was the excellent three-dimensional "Life Cycle of Coccidia" display.

And before you ask, of course it listed the sub-clinical, clinical and external phases.

And yes, he got a blue ribbon.

Life cycle of coccidia display. (Clinical phase in purple.)

Is it okay to yell guinea pig in a crowded fair?

Why, yes it is.

Though officially referred to as cavies here at the fair, it is perfectly okay to call them guinea pigs. I have this on the authority of Jeanne Dudley, 21, this year's FFA Champion Cavy Showman winner.

Jeanne (pronounced juh-NAY) was a wealth of information on these adorable little critters. She even went so far as to pull out the Pacific Northwest 4-H Cavy Project Leader Guide, which gave the proper cavy taxonomy, namely Cavia porcellus. Cavia meaning short-tailed or tailless rodent, and porcellus meaning little pig.

Then the conversation took a dark and unexpected turn into the breeding of larger, South American cavies for, um, other purposes. Seeing as this is a family-friendly blog, I'll leave it at that. Except to say that if you see "Cuy" on the menu of a Mexican restaurant, just be sure you know what you're getting before you order it.


Jeanne Dudley and the unnamed White Crested with which she won this year's FFA Champion Cavy Showman.

Friday highlights

TGIF - Thank Goodness it’s Fair (day)!

Friday is First Responder Day. Free admission for police, fire, or armed service members plus one guest. (Uniform or service identification required.)

Today’s top picks:

• 4-H llama obstacle course, 11 a.m., Grass Show Ring

• Rooster Crowing Contest, noon, Poultry Barn

• Canby Lions Club Beef Barbecue, noon – 7 p.m., in the BBQ Grove

• Westside dance studio, 2 p.m., Grove Stage

• Dairy Goat Milking Relay Competition, 4:30
  Publish Post

And be sure to “come on down” for…

The Price is Fair audience participation game show, 7 p.m., Grove Stage.

It’s like The Price is Right, but done Clackamas County Fair style. Registration for the game is for those 18 and older, from 6 p.m. – 6:45 p.m. at the Grove Stage.

Here is Friday’s complete fair schedule.