Henry County Fair, Napoleon, Ohio
We did get off to a good start, leaving at 5:30 on Friday, mainly because of a downpour that left the garden so wet that Fred couldn’t pick anything to take with us. We stopped at Burger King take out, Fred eating as he drove. We got to Clarian, PA, Super 8 Motel, at 10:30. We left the next day at 7:30 arriving in Napoleon, Ohio at noon to find no answer at Fred's parent’s house – they were apparently at the County Fair.
We drove to the farm, driving past the old homestead and through the old apple orchard (all grown over with weeds and the repository of old cars and farm machinery that have now all rusted so badly that they are worthless). We go down a slight hill to the “Yarnell Campground” on the banks of the Maumee River. Scot, Lorrie, and Leyna were there along with a family whose husband works with Scot in the hospital. They were all about to leave to have lunch at the fair. Jane and Fred set up their tent and left for the fair grounds.
campground: Fred & Jane's tent on the left, then Dave's camper and then Scot's tents
Admission was $5 for all day and includes entrance to the grandstand. We easily found Fred's - mother; Sister Pat and Steve; Brother Bill and son Kevin; and the Guyer Family – Aunt Thelma, Cousin Bob, wife RuthAnn. They were having the “regular” tractor pull, i.e., tractors that only have one engine. Cousin Bud and son Sam competed. Bud beat his son and was 3rd or 4th in the competition.
Grandstand: clockwise starting with Bill in the first row, Kevin, Pat, Jane, Steve, Lorrie, Mom, Aunt Thelma
Tractor Pull: Cousin Bud Hatcher
We ate Fair food for lunch. Fred had a steak sandwich and curly fries for lunch. Much of the food is provided by organizations, like the Kiwanis, churches, etc, and is very reasonably priced. We had just missed Dave’s family – they left to go to Fred's parent’s house – gaining entrance through a window that Stephanie managed to crawl through. Although Fred's father was home, they felt he would not come to the door. Dave then cut down a tree, with the help of his son Ben, that was dying in the back yard and took the logs down to the campground. We had an early picnic dinner at Fred's parents – Steve grilled hamburgers and hot dogs.
Dave in front of their Popup
We got to the grandstand at 6 and it was already packed for the 6:30 “tractor” pull. There were many different categories. There were even “truck” pulls. Actually some of the trucks were designed just for the competition and were all pickups, but some were just all fiberglass and to get in the whole length (including the bed) lifted up. They all made a very loud noise and earplugs were being sold. Here is how a “pull” works. The vehicle pulls something that looks like a flat bed semi trailer with the cab and driver in the back – so it looks like it is pulling the “flat bed” from the rear. As it is pulled a gear arrangement pulls a weight towards the puller, putting more weight on the tires of the flatbed closest to the puller – thus increasing the weight. Eventually the puller stops and the distance is measured – the one pulling the farthest is the winner. Once it stops the driver of the “flat bed” just drives forward to the start and the dirt track is smoothed over by two grooming vehicles. The grand finale is tractors that actually have three running engines. Of course they don’t even look like tractors. They make a huge noise. For these they increase the weight on the “flat bed”.
Modified tractors
Tractor with 3 engines
Yarnell Campground Camp Fire - front row: Leyna, Jane, Stephanie, Mary. Back: Dave, Ben, Lorrie and Scot.
Sunday, Steve put potatoes in aluminum foil on the grill (baked) and chicken on top of that. Steve is very finicky and spent the whole time pouring water on the chicken to keep the flames down – thus it was not burned.
Sunday dinner: Jane, Steve, Pat, Mary, Stephanie and Mom.
We left at 1:30 for Dave’s place in Manistee, Michigan. It took us about 5 hours. It is North of Indiana on Lake Michigan.
Next Stop: Manistee, Michigan