In the weeks and months leading up to this year’s Bluffton Street Fair, at least a dozen people mentioned it with varying levels of warning and excitement for me.
Needless to say, I proceeded with caution.
However, if it weren’t for this build-up, I probably never would have thought to write anything about my experience. Even so, I feel obligated to do so.
The truth is, I enjoyed the extra excuse to walk downtown last week, especially once the cooler weather came. Fried Oreos were a decent incentive as well.
On Friday evening, I got together with several old friends who had also recently began working in Bluffton. I’ve known this group of goofballs since middle school, and it was our collective first proper experience of the Street Fair. Together we enjoyed the many fair food classics and oddities for dinner and dessert while walking and joking around.
Then, committed to getting the full experience (without getting sick on one of the rides), we played games until we walked away with a goldfish, hermit crab and a few unnecessary stuffed animals from the mouse game. I still can hardly believe the mouse game includes an actual mouse being spun around and around in a roulette wheel.
This was, of course, immediately followed by a trip to Walmart — which was completely out of the pet care items we needed — and a couple of one-day-shipping purchases on Amazon. The fish came home with me.
The following morning, I covered the Kids Day events for the paper. Though it was early and cold, those factors were quickly forgotten while the competition unfolded.
During the diaper derby, one of the babies took this one inopportune moment to practice walking and disqualified immediately. In the pedal push, a boy came dressed like a training Rocky Balboa in a gray sweatsuit and pedaled with all the seriousness of the “Gonna Fly Now” training montage. The newly-crowned Street Fair prince confessed his mom had tried to dress him like “Family Matters” Steve Urkel, then gave his best pose. Who doesn’t love ornery kid shenanigans?
I certainly won’t deny that the News-Banner office being downtown amidst it all came with a particular array of sights, sounds and smells. I also don’t miss having to fight for parking in the afternoon and evening. But for one week, I suppose I can make it work. People-watching is fun anyways.
By the end of the week, I had eaten my fair share of fair food and crossed off yet another first as a newcomer. It followed things like my first Wells County 4-H fair, county budget planning sessions, school board meetings and probably a host of others I’ve already forgotten as new ones have come along.
And for those of you wondering, yes, “Pickle” and the hermit crab (name pending) are alive and well. For now, at least.
holly@news-banner.com
