If you start to lose faith in the younger generation, I recommend you visit a county fair. It will be crawling with talented, responsible and upstanding youngsters.

The McDonald County Fair is just wrapping up and we enjoyed the Newton County Fair last weekend. Both fairs had wonderful exhibits of animals, vegetables, crafts, and physical talent. But the best exhibitions are the kids themselves. They certainly deserved to be on display.

Most of the exhibitors and showmen are members of 4-H Clubs and FFA Chapters. These kids have their heads pretty well in the right place and they have some ambitious goals. The talent they show in their projects is impressive and you get a sense that these kids will grow into very responsible adults.

And if you want an uplift, just stop some of the kids at the fair and visit with them. They love to talk and they will tell you all you want to hear about what they’re doing.

This year’s fairs were well attended. Most of this, I believe, can be attributed to the growth in 4-H and FFA organizations. As these groups gain more and more members, that puts more exhibits at the fair and that brings out more and more parents, grandparents, brothers and sisters, etc.

I’m sure the high cost of traveling is helping local events such as the fair. Taking the family to the fair is not expensive. Getting in the gate is free and just walking around looking at all the animals and other exhibits is free. The carnival rides are very inexpensive compared to a trip to some place such as Silver Dollar City or Worlds of Fun.

I guess the bottom line is that our county fairs are a great asset to those who participate and those who come out to admire. And, in a theme, I sometimes wonder if I overstate, much of the thanks for all this must go to the many volunteers who make these fairs happen.

My sincere congratulations to everyone who had a hand in these two great events. You did a great job and let’s hope that our fairs remain an important part of our lives. It’s easy to say that we want them to get bigger, but I think this is a case in which you must be careful what you wish for. If the fairs become too large, they risk losing some of the local spirit and become a business. In my humble opinion, growth is good up to a point.

o o o

It always seems that after our Newton and McDonald county fairs, we are on a fast track to the opening of school. Now that schools have chosen to start in August, summer seems to be far too short.

I have considerable doubt about the wisdom of this early start, but I’m sure school boards and administrations are smarter than I about this. However, I think there’s a huge price to pay locally for these early starts. Just cooling the buildings which are like ovens in August and September must really take a bite out of school funds. It doesn’t take a genius to know that, on the average, May is more pleasant than August.

So, the fairs are done and hopefully the kids are getting their school supplies and what new school clothes they need. I’m sure most of the teachers are getting their thoughts together and slipping off to school to get their rooms ready and their files in order.

I only hope that all the students are as eager and ready to go back to school as I was when I was a youngster. The opening day of school was a really big day for me and I believe that's the kind of attitude you need no matter what you are going to do in this life. Just reach out and get a fist full of life and hang on for the ride!