2015 edition of SEMO District Fair draws to a close

The most impressive produce, livestock and craftsmanship having been recognized, Saturday's festivities marked the close of the annual SEMO District Fair.

Most of the assorted livestock had been judged during previous days, but that opened an opportunity for the youngest farmers to strut their animals about the ring in the afternoon.

About 20 aspiring hands such as 6-year-old Blake Aufdenberg finally saw their months of diligent care become blue ribbons as the crowd cheered.

His grandfather, Jerry Wolfenkoehler, said Blake had been taking care of the calf, Hurley, since he was born in February.

"We had to bottle-feed him, didn't we?" he said.

"Yeah," Blake nodded, fiddling with his new ribbon, adding this is his second year raising and showing an animal at the fair.

Blake said he learned the most difficult thing about raising a calf such as Hurley, who weighed several times what he did, was "just holding on to him."

Elsewhere, in the 4-H building, ribbons also marked the best-in-show for crafts such as sewing, quilting, photography, woodworking, sculpture, horticulture and more.

Shirley Palen, who was in charge of judging crafts such as crocheting, knitting and quilting, said the entries came from several surrounding counties.

"In terms of numbers of exhibitions, we have just slightly fewer than we did last year," she said, but pointed out some of the categories saw more entries.

"Like gardening and baking," she said, pointing to a table covered entirely in intricately decorated cakes. "We had a lot of arts and crafts this year."

For merchants such as Ilene Evans, however, there were no shortage of customers at the fair.

"This has been my best year ever," she said, adding she sold more Scentsy products than in any of her previous seven years.

"I'm blaming it on the weather," she said. "We've been having such beautiful weather."

Outside, fairgoer Lara Hoffsteder agreed, saying welcoming weather conditions made it hard to resist coming back.

"I don't know if I'd have been so lenient in bringing them back day after day as much as I was if the weather weren't so nice," she said.

Fair attendance numbers weren't available Saturday. Pete Poe, the fair's spokesman, didn't return a phone call from the Southeast Missourian.

Hoffsteder's son, Mark, said the best part of the fair was the array of carnival games.

"I didn't win anything, but they're still really fun," he said.

But he was quick to point out there's always a silver lining at the fair.

"And the food is good," he said.

tgraef@semissourian.com

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