The Outdoor Equine Arena has many competitions to participate in and see. The event begins at approximately 9:00a.m. The riders have to be 18 or younger to participate. If you are fourteen and up then you are a senior. Sierra Weatherly is 15 years old and a participant in this year’s competition. She is competing with her horse, Kid Charlamange, who is 5 years old and 15.3

hands high. A hand is about four inches. So, he is about 61.2 inches. A horse that is 4 years or older is in the older group with gildings and mares. So he is with the gildings. The younger section is with fillies and colts. Gildings and colts are males and mares and fillies are females.

She’s been competing for 6 years and loves doing it. The required uniform is as follows, tall boots, tan breaches

(pants), a black or brown belt, white show shirt, black, navy, or green show jacket, black gloves, and a black or brown helmet and

hairnet. The competitions are Showing and Fitting, Pleasure Under Saddle, Hunt Seat Under Saddle, Hunter Over Fences, and Pleasure Over Fences. During Showing and Fitting you are judged on the cleanliness of your horse and how well your horse can walk the pattern with you leading them. Pleasure Under Saddle is how your horse behaves while you ride it. Hunt Seat Under Saddle is how you ride your horse. Hunter Over Fences is how well your horse can jump, is he/she alert, does he/she hold up, is he/she a sturdy horse. The final event, Pleasure Over Fences, is how smooth your horse jumps over the fence. The competition is fun to participate in or watch.

What’s the Buzz in the Frederick Fair? By: Kate Stadter

If you enter the Farm and Garden Building (#14a), among all the monstrously large vegetables and prize-winning animal feed you will find a booth belonging to the Frederick County Beekeeping Association (FCBA; image right). There you can find locally farmed honey and displays, including beehives containing living bees (image right). But what’s the real buzz?

The FCBA meets once a month and has about 150-170 members, 99% of which are in Frederick County. According to their website, www.frederickbees.org, “The Frederick County Beekeeping Association (FCBA) is an organization of current and future beekeepers in the Frederick County, Maryland area. Our mission is to provide support and information to each other, to educate the public and to advocate for practice of responsible beekeeping in the larger community.”

Bees are very organized creatures. In nature, The Queen bee lays the eggs for the hive in cells, which are tended by the youngest “nurse” bees (who also have the task of feeding the Queen bee and cleaning out empty cells). When the larvae hatch they also become “nurse” bees. Male bees are called drones, and their primary function is to mate with the Queen. When bees find flowers, they have a special “dance” they perform in the hive to let the other bees know where the flower is.

Beekeeping is a hobby unlike any other. At its peak in the summer, a hive can have from 40,000 to 50,000 bees, and many FCBA members have three or four hives. The natural structure of the hives has the honey on the outside, then the pollen, and then the cells with eggs in them, in a vaguely circle-shaped configuration (see lower

right). The honey acts as a barrier to keep the Queen laying eggs in the correct place. However, beekeepers have devised something called honey excluders that keep the Queen bee (who is larger than worker bees) from entering a top section, but allow worker bees to create honey in the section (see lower left).

One of the workers at the booth shared his story. Two years ago, Rodney Olah and his son were walking the Farm and Garden Building when they saw the bee booth – and the sign-up sheet to come to meetings. They started their hive, and it survived the winter to win first prize at the Fair the next year. He now competes again, to prove that his previous win wasn’t a fluke.

Special thanks to Rodney Olah and Phil Conyers, both Frederick County beekeepers, for taking the time to speak to me while working the FCBA booth.

4-H at tHe Fair By: Davis Warnerabout us

The Great Frederick Fair Inc. and The Frederick County Agricultural

Society Inc. publish News as a general information service for its Life Members, business clients and associates. Additional information

regarding an of the matters published within may be obtained from the

Administration Office.

board oFFicersColby D. Hubble – President

Charles B. Cramer – Vice PresidentRobert W. Frank – Secretary

Maurice A. Gladhill – Treasurer

board oF directorsJohn E. Bare

Joseph F. Devilbiss, Sr.James S. Grimes

Nancy N. HendricksNancy F. Keller

Jacqueline L. KrehJohn P. Murphy

J. Ray Ramsburg, III Assistant Treasurer

Shelly J. Stull

The Great Frederick Fair Inc. is a member of:

The Maryland Association of Agricultural Fairs and Shows Inc.

The International Association of Fairs

and Expositions

The Chamber of Commerce of Frederick County

The Frederick County Tourism CouncilThe Pennsylvania

Association of Fairs

How to reacH us...The Administration Office at

The Great Frederick Fair is open from 8 a.m. - 4 p.m. M – F

301.663.5895 p – 301.663.9719 fwww.thegreatfrederickfair.com

Street address: 797 E. Patrick Street By mail, address materials to

P.O. Box 604, Frederick, MD 21701

32 Fair oF dreams – Country nights & Carnival lightsFair oF dreams – Country nights & Carnival lights

The Great Frederick Fair is celebrating its 155th birthday this week; some of its closest members have been here just as long. The Frederick 4-H club has been in Frederick for 100 years now! This makes it one of the oldest chapters in Maryland.

Many people have seen the 4-H buildings and signs at the Great Frederick fair, but less people know the real meaning of the 4-H club. The 4 h’s representing: Head, Heart, Hands, and Health. Anyone from 8 to 18 can join.

To learn more about the 4-H club we interviewed, Wanda Embrey, the superintendent of the 4-H fair building. Wanda has been working at the Fair and with 4-H for over 50 years. At the 4-H building, you can enter your different works of art such as photographs or baked goods. This year there was over 260 corsages alone entered!

Along with the more traditional things 4-H does, Wanda stated that a popular thing that kids are leaning to this year is robotics. With STEM in schools getting much more emphasis, it is inevitable that youth groups like 4-H will start to incorporate them.

However, 4-H is not the end of the road. The Future Farmers of America (FFA) is similar to a step up from 4-H. It is open to students who want to take the next step in agriculture and farming. The majority of kids in 4-H go on to participate in the FFA.

In short, the 4-H club is one of the most prominent and oldest youth groups affiliated with the Great Frederick Fair, and is constantly adding new things, like robotics, to their activities. So stop by the 4-H building and witness the grandeur of the Fair!

The Outdoor Equine Arena By: Elena Murphy

Mrs. Wanda Embrey at the 4H building

honey

pollen

eggs

You’re walking around at the Great Frederick Fair. Maybe you begin to feel something rumbling in your stomach. Maybe you want a souvenir to remind you of the great memories you’ll make here. Maybe you need some appliances, but you’ve already driven all the way to the fair. Fear not, because there are plenty of great vendors here to serve you with what you need.

As an example, Carroll Manor Fire Company has cooked up some great food for the people at this fair since 1953. Their top hits are grilled cheese sandwiches, crab cakes, and various types of soups, all of which are made from various local and state sources. When asked why the company does this, Auxiliary President Martha Houck said that the company has volunteers run the stand so they can raise funds for new equipment such as new fire engines or perhaps even a new station. She told me that it is hard work that requires a lot of cooperation, but that getting to meet everyone at the fair makes it worth the labor. Houck stated, “The young people of today may want to follow things like sports or computer, but it’s great to get involved with things like this, with the community.”

There are a variety of other vendors strewn throughout the fairgrounds, but you’ll want to visit the Public Eatery area for the best culinary experience at the Great Frederick Fair. Hemp’s Meats, founded in 1849, is popular with fair visitors for its beef, ham, and various other meat platters. This reporter also spotted at least three lemonade stands and at least four places to get a funnel cake.

There’s an official Great Frederick Fair booth that sells souvenirs and trinkets, if you want to show your love for the fair. There are plenty of t-shirts and mugs with the official logo of the Fair. Duane Mixon, a volunteer for five annual fairs, told me that the fair raises funds for other organizations. This year, funds

are being raised for Windsor Knolls Middle School PTSA.

While not categorized as traditional vendors, there are people in Machinery Row with a multitude of appliances that you might want to check out. I spotted a tool shop and some spec’d-out lawnmowers, but there are plenty more things if you wish to peruse Machinery Row.

There are a variety of vendors if you need anything at the Great Frederick Fair. I noticed that everyone I interviewed liked the people that came here time and time again, and that the fair gave them a sense of being closer as a community. So who IS serving you at the Great Frederick Fair? People who love your company and want to serve you well.

8 a.m. 4-H/FFA Rabbit Judging - Bldg. 148:30 a.m. Draft Horse & Mule Show - Outdoor Equine Arena

4-H/FFA Dairy Cattle Show – All Breeds - Bldg. 329 a.m. All Buildings Opens to Public

Farm and Garden Building Opens to Public - Bldg. 14AEquine Showcase/Expo - Presented By: The Great Frederick Fair, Inside Gate 34-H/FFA Swine Fitting & Showing - Bldg. 25Sulky To Saddle Tack Room Display, - Near Bldg. # 23 (Track Barn)

Noon – Close *Carnival Midway Opens ($)Noon – 6 p.m. Kids’ Expo - Presented By: The Great Frederick Fair - Grand Rental Events’ Community Tent

1 p.m. Horseshoeing Demonstration - Bldg. 324-H/FFA Swine Breeding Show - Bldg. 25

2 p.m. 4-H/FFA Sheep Fitting & Showing - Bldg. 284-H/FFA Poultry Showmanship - Bldg. 14Stick Horse Workshop - City Streets Country Roads - Bldg. 44 (FREE)

3 p.m. The Eddie Mercer Agri-Services Vintage Art Contest Auction - Bldg. 283:30/4 p.m. 4-H/FFA Dairy Cattle Supreme Champion - Bldg. 32

5 p.m. 4-H/FFA Cake Auction - Bldg. 186:30 p.m. Frederick County FFA Greenhand & Character Counts Ceremony - Bldg. 327:30 p.m. Cole Swindell (Country) - Presented By: Buffalo Wild Wings - MD & Tire World - Grandstand ($)su

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The Small Animals of the Great Frederick Fair

By Addy Benton At the Great Frederick Fair there

are an abundance of things to do and see. There are chickens, bunnies, goats, horses, cows, and lots of other animals. At the Poultry & Rabbit building they were unloading the chickens, putting them into cages, and feeding them. We interviewed the superintendent of the building, Nancy Carlisle. She said that she is the superintendent because she grew up with chickens, and it was a hobby she grew up with. She said she had been working with chickens forever. She alone entered 105 chickens and has 300 chickens at home. As a kid she entered normally 350 chickens. We also interviewed Ben of the Shookstown 4-H club. It was his first year in 4-H entering animals and he entered 6 chickens and said it was, “very interesting raising them.” He also had 2 turkeys.

When we went to the goat exhibits we interviewed a member of the 4-H club named Alisha. It’s her first year with goats, but she has been in 4-H for 4 years. She was going to show 2 alpine goats, but when we interviewed her she hadn’t shown them yet. When they show their goats they lead the goats around, and the judges inspect them. When showing the goats the exhibitor wears white as a show uniform to make it look official. Alisha said she liked the experience and especially liked bottle feeding the goats because she thought it gave her and the goat time to bond. The fair is full of wonderful animals.

contentsThe Small Animals of the Great Frederick Fair . . . . . 1About Us . . . . . . . . . . 24-H at the Fair . . . . . 2What’s the Buzz in Frederick Fair? . . . . 3The Outdoor Equine Arena . . . . . . 3 Who’s Serving You at the Great Frederick Fair . . . . . 4Schedule of Events . . . . . . . . . . 4

Thank you to St. John’s Regional Catholic School!

NEWSLETTERseptember 17, 2017 – vol. 3, no. 2 14 Fair oF dreams – Country nights & Carnival lights

Who’s Serving You at the Great Frederick Fair? By: Nathaniel Casabar

Left: “Carroll Manor Fire Company”; Right: “Official Great Frederick Fair Souvenirs”)