The Morning Journal (Lorain, OH)
121st edition of county fair opens
With the opening of the 121st Cuyahoga County Fair, 19201 East Bagley Road in Middleburg Heights, less than two hours in the offing, Jessica Plogger of North Olmsted was giving her Cornish Cross rooster a bath and beauty treatment on Aug. 7 in the fairgrounds poultry display barn. That is not joke. With the rooster cradled gently in her lap, she passed over its wet stom- ach feathers with a blow dryer.
“He is comatose right now. Roosters love this,” said Plogger, who belongs to the Town & Country Farmers 4-H.
Plogger said this is her sixth year showing roosters at the fair, which runs through Aug. 13 and is expected to attract 150,000 visitors over its seven-day run.
The point of the beauty treatment, Plogger explained, was to have this particular rooster and the others she brought to the fair looking their very best so they will catch the eyes of potential buyers.
If at this point you’re wondering if the pampered fowl has a name, be advised Plogger loves her birds but keep things on a business footing at all times.
“He doesn’t have a
name. If he did, it would be dinner,” she said, laughing.
The fair’s opening on Aug. 7 featured a parade and ribbon-cutting at the gazebo. Even before the gates opened, there was activity in the rabbit display area as a judge rated the rabbits entered in the competition for best in show.
There also was plenty of last-minute preparations underway in the other animal display areas, in and around the trailers selling food and beverages and around the rides positioned on the meandering midway.
Plogger loves fair week and everything that goes with the celebration of the rural and agricultural heritage of Ohio’s largest county.
“You meet so many nice, interesting people who share your interests,” she said. “Everybody helps each other as much as they can.”
Another 4-H participant, Ellie Hetherill of Solon, proudly showed off Rain, her Shetland Ewe, in the display area for sheep.
Hetherill said her family tends a flock of 32 sheep that live on the farm owned by her grandparents, Jim and Deb Hetherill.
“Especially at this time of the year, you have to make sure they have plenty of good water,” Hetherill said of the breed of sheep that grazes on grass and is prized for its wool.
Hetherill said Rain was at the fair for display purposes only and would not be sold.
Ben Pierce of North Royalton stood in a wooden pen with his two male dairy beef cattle, one named Bart and other unnamed. Pierce said he’d raised Bart from birth but was prepared to part with him in a hoped-for sale. Both creatures weigh in excess of 1,000 pounds.
“I’m 18 now and started doing this when I was 10,” Pierce said. “It was tough to sell them at first, but as the years have gone by, I’ve gotten used to it.”
Other attractions at this year’s fair include the always popular demolition derby, a rodeo, motorcycle thrill show and live music.