The subject of being fair arises often. Sarah had a phrase she used on her girls when they objected to something because it wasn’t fair. “Fair is when people in overalls throw cow pies for distance”. Now, that is an old phrase when odd challenges were demonstrated at fairs but it made me think about the great memories I have of the Multnomah County Fair in Gresham from my childhood.
Just once we went to the fair when it moved to the Expo Center and it just was not the same…one of those old activities that could not be duplicated. That was one of the few outings we always did in the summer as I recall. We loved the rodeos and the horse shows. I believe later they had horse races and that was never appealing to me.
I remember especially the one cowboy riding standing up on two horses side by side as well as the girls who did all kinds of acrobatic tricks atop their horses. I was not ever particularly fond of bucking horses and bull riding in the rodeo but it was part of the show and we always went.
The exhibits were great fun too and seeing all the animals was especially enjoyable. Before the days of milk inspectors and super cleanliness I do believe there were more farmers represented (of course, there were lots of farmers then too). They were milking their cows by hand of course.
The rides and the various carnival games were special to us. There was no more chance of winning a lot at the games then than now, but forever there will be those who determine to knock all the bottles down or throw a dime into a dish for a big stuffed animal.
Once when we went back to our car in the parking lot there was a young woman who had somehow landed in our car and was soundly sleeping. Fearing she was somewhat intoxicated but remembering it took a while to get the proper officials to come and take her so we could come home. Not sure we could lock the doors on a Model A.
The food stands were always there and one call I well remember was “come get your burger! It’s nice and greezy so it sliders down nice and eazy." That would not fly now.
Losing the fair at Gresham was really quite sad. The last time I remember going was after we were married and had Christine. We went with Earl and Fern Wecks and their girls, Janet, and Linda. The thing we always remembered about that was the endurance of women. Linda and Christine needed to be carried and while we tried to get their dads to do the job, after short spurts the girls were parked upon our hips and we trudged on. At that fair there were RV’s and many tractors and other farm machines displayed. Not like the childhood memories.
So, these are a few of my fond fair memories.
