Hope Hellweg leads her heifer, Maxine, during an exhibition Sunday afternoon, June 30 at the Greater Jefferson County Fair. Hellweg won the award for Jefferson County Ultimate Showmanship. (Andy Hallman/The Union)

FAIRFIELD – The Greater Jefferson County Fair wrapped up Sunday after a week of livestock shows, carnival rides and great food.

For kids in 4-H and FFA, the county fair is a time to show off months of hard work, whether that’s from creating an exhibit to show in the activities building or training an animal to follow their every command. Of all the youngsters to show livestock at the fair, one was crowned overall showman for their poise and ability to lead, and this year that honor went to 11-year-old Hope Hellweg.

Hope won the Jefferson County Ultimate Showmanship Show on Sunday with her heifer, named Maxine. In addition to participating in the beef show, Hope showed animals in the swine show and sheep show, too, leading her sister Grace’s sheep into the ring because Grace was unable to because of a broken leg.

Hope said there are a number of chores that must be done to prepare an animal for the county fair.

“You have to work their hair, and work with them every day so they get used to you,” she said. “You have to get them used to the show halter and show stick.”

Hope gets up every morning at 6:30 a.m. to begin her chores with her siblings, Grace and Konrad, while her parents Kendra and Josh provide a helping hand, too, of course.

“We wash all our cows, and we walk all seven of our pigs and wash them,” she said. “We also have to put the sheep on the treadmill and walk them.”

Hope, who attends Fairfield schools, said this year’s fair went very well, and her favorite part was showing her livestock and seeing friends.

OPEN CLASS

Showing at the fair can be done by anyone young or old. Adults have the opportunity to participate in the open class livestock shows, or submit a project as an open class exhibit. This year, Mary Shirkui Bishop submitted 11 projects in all including six scrapbooks in the open class division, including one scrapbook that detailed her battle with cancer.

“I’m a nine-year cancer survivor, and I’ve been wanting to do that. I just finally decided I was doing another scrapbook, so I got it done,” she said. “Next year, I want to try focusing on photography. I didn’t have enough time to do it this year. I want to continue with art projects, and I like to scrapbook.”

One of Bishop’s scrapbooks is a collection of her most significant memories through the years, and four of them are about her son, Colton Bishop. Bishop’s daughter Chelsea (Lanphier) Van Horne was the Jefferson County Fair Queen in 2016.

FOOD and RIDES

Apart from a rainy Friday that unfortunately canceled a few grandstand events, the weather for the fair this year was great and not blistering hot as in some other years. Every night, big crowds filled the concourse between the show arena and carnival rides, where numerous vendors set up shop. Julie Greeson attended the fair with her family, including grandkids Masen and Ainslee Wood. The family said they look forward to eating at the Mr. Taco food booth, while the kids look forward to playing carnival games. Masen said his favorite food to eat at fairs is a corn dog, and in fact last year he ate 15 corn dogs over the course of 10 days at the Iowa State Fair.

Jodi McClaran attended the fair with her family, and she said the rides were the highlight. They also enjoyed getting food from Mr. Taco, and her daughter Bella McClaran is fond of their pickles. Bella said she likes the fair so much she came every day.

Kenny’s Funland Carnival, based in La Feria, Texas, set up rides and games in the green space north of the grandstand. Fair-goers tried their luck at games of skill, like one booth where participants had to break two glass bottles with a baseball in order to win a plush prize. Children and adults could be heard screaming from the rides that spun them around and flipped them upside down. Youngster Jackson Andrus, who attended the fair with Paula Kennerson and Wayne Hillyer, said the carnival rides were his favorite part of the fair.

VENDORS

The McCleary Building west of the Cambridge Building always hosts vendors and organizations that wish to host a booth. Guests can find sales on Tupperware, clothing, home décor, the Republican and Democratic parties of Jefferson County, and much more. One of the vendors who had a stall this year was Preppin Mama, a business that makes freeze-dried goods and is a joint venture of mother-daughter duo Dani Murphy and Tatum Kane. On Saturday, Kane was selling items with the help of her friend Lilly Heckethorn, while her mother ran a booth at the Relay for Life in Washington.

Kane explained that she and her mother have been building this business since 2020, and Preppin Mama became officially incorporated in February 2023. They started with gourmet cookies, and also branched out into candies and freeze-dried fruits and vegetables. Kane said they have different product lines, one that is all organic fruits and vegetables, one for baked goods and one for freeze-dried candy. She said that sales at the fair were great this year, and that Saturday was especially busy.

Murphy and Kane live in the countryside outside Hillsboro, and can be found at their pop-up stand in the Jefferson Antique Mall in Mt. Pleasant. Earlier this year, the business launched a website so that customers can place orders online, too.

The Jefferson County Fair Board announced on Facebook that it has already set the dates for next year’s fair, which will be from June 23-30.