From toddling through the fairgrounds to sitting at the fair and watching the ages

Also: A proud moment for Special Olympics athletes; the end of bottled water; maybe a new hiking trail?

County fair installments: – Walking around the fair with my dad holding one of my hands and me, with my other hand, holding a glob of spun sugar. – Walking around the fair, goofing off with my cousins. – Walking around the fair, being cool with my crowd. – Walking around the fair with my wife (just starting to show). – Walking around the fair with a camera and a notepad. – Walking around the fair with my kids (who, let’s face it, basically served as excuses for me to be at the fair). – Walking around the fair with my old dad, checking out antique tractors and the animals and listening to him remembering things about the farmstead when he was a boy. – Sitting around at the fair, listening to a band, having a brew and a corndog, watching kids walking around being goofy or cool, reporters with cameras and notepads, young families, old people oozing nostalgia... The fair is happening this weekend. Slow down. Take a time out. Go have some real fun.

* Thumbs Up: There was no prouder sight than at Thursday morning’s United Way Celebration of Service and Awards Breakfast, when a dozen or so local Special Olympics athletes came marching in during presentation of the top award – the Pedro Award – to T.J. Fetters, the guy who keeps the local program going. They were chanting, fist pumping, victory sign flashing, grinning, patting their buddy on the back, doing hugs ... you got the idea instantly what Fetters does for the special needs community within our larger community. The Pedro Award is named for an anonymous donor who, starting in 1976, gave contributions and signed off merely as “Pedro.” It’s given to community members who spent a lifetime of caring for others without thought of personal gain. Fetters turned it back towards the Yuba-sutter community. “Every day and every month and every year I’ve lived in this community I’ve loved it more and more, and I would never live anywhere other than the Yuba-sutter community because you folks are the most giving people I’ve ever been around.” Other honorees included Michele Black, Chaya Galicia and Nancy Aaberg.

* Thumbs Up: Looks like the end might at least be in sight (if you squint a little) for bottled water in the Robbins vicinity. Last year, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency issued a notice that the county was in violation of the Safe Drinking Water Act. The system operated by the county had too much arsenic and other contaminants in the water. Bottled water has been provided residents and children at the elementary school there ever since. The EPA and county reached a settlement outlining plans to address the issue and the project is expected to be done by Jan. 1, 2022.

* Question: Is there an opportunity for another hiking trail in Yuba-sutter? Caltrans reports that the Highway 20 project near Smartsville is about 75 percent complete. The roadway no longer met current design standards for a 55 mph highway – alignment and shoulder widths weren’t up to present standards. So they’re straightening and smoothing things out. Concrete is to be poured for the new bridge next week and final paving work is expected around Labor Day. The project is to wrap up in the early fall, it was reported. It’s a nearly $30 million project and will have 12-foot lanes, 8-foot shoulders, longer and slighter turns with less elevation change and increased sight distances. It was reported that old sections of roadway will be demolished and vegetation planted. Could that be one more path to walk? Our two counties have the bike trail between Sutter and Yuba City, the loop at Hammon Grove, and the Black Swan loop, as well as levee tops. The opportunity for another nearby path would be nice. Steve Miller is Editor of the Appealdemocrat

* Ugh: Jokes from the animal barns: – How do chickens dance? Chick to chick. – What do you call a steer with a twitch? Beef jerky. – Where do bovines go on their first date? The moooooovies. – A horse walks into a bar and the bartender says, “Hey!” and the horse says, “Man, you read my mind.” – What happens if you drop a hen-grenade? It egg-splodes. – What’s the best way to count your cows? With a cow-culator. – Why did the ram run off the cliff? He didn’t see the eweturn.