I love to crowd watch and enjoy the social aspect of conversations with both friends and strangers who stopped by our booth. I observed and thereby learned several things over the days of the fair. Let me share with you some of the highlights.

The most enlightening thing happened within an hour of opening for business on Thursday morning. A gentleman stopped at our booth and was examining the items for sale and literature we had displayed on the table. Once we greeted him, he immediately launched into a diatribe complaining about the current political climate. His vitriol included how voting is now obsolete, law enforcement and judges are all corrupt and “stop signs are unconstitutional”. I have since been combing through my pocket constitution and have yet to find any mention of stop signs.

I learned that the 4-H program is alive and well here in Franklin County. The dwindling role of personal responsibility is being revived and taught to our youth as a hallmark of maturity. They don’t promote just agricultural interests, but emphasize the

life skills necessary to become a productive adult. I appreciate that very much.

I learned that cash is still king as our revenue was chiefly in that form versus Venmo. I learned that many people, who claimed to be registered voters, feel that if Trump doesn’t win this fall, “we are in big trouble”. I learned that another group of voters, do not really like either presidential candidate and are questioning the need to even vote in November.

We focused on educating visitors to an Idaho issue that is expected to be on our November general election ballot. It is referred to as Prop 1…the open primary and ranked choice voting initiative. In my personal opinion, it is not a good choice for Idaho. Too many reasons to expand on in this column, but I will be voting NO. More on that later.

One highlight that tickled me was a conversation with a young man and his friends. He was very eager to buy a Trump flag from us. I asked him how old he was, assuming he was barely 18 and this upcoming election was going to be his first time voting. I was shocked when he answered in a very mature manner that he was only 15 years old! He was planning to hang this political banner in his room. What a contrast to the posters I had in my room at age 15! Good for you young man!

On Thursday night, the main event in the arena was listed on the program as “pig wrestling”. It was much like the greased pig contest I remember from the past, but slightly different in rules and procedure. Teams of 4 men, women or coed were formed in a marked out region of the dirt arena. The adult swine was greased and the mud prepared with not just water but some sort of slick, greasy substance to make it more adventurous. The goal was to secure the pig and place him bum side first, into a large barrel. This required coordinated teamwork among the team. Some succeeded and some did not.

The analogy I drew from this contest somewhat paralleled the purpose of our Republican booth. That being encouraging the voting public to participate and cast their votes for the candidate of their choosing, hopefully the Republican. Without a full team effort, the goal of good leadership of the country, state and county will not be achieved. And yes, I also get the other comparison, as pointed out by a few visitors to our booth….politicians can be their own kind of animal, possibly a pig, or maybe a wolf in sheep’s clothing.

This year’s Franklin County Fair was the 85th year of said event. That is quite an accomplishment for both our current fair board and past board members. Countless volunteer hours are given by the fair board to line up entertainment, vendors, and exhibits. I hope they continue to thrive and grow as our county grows with them. To them, and to the 4-H leaders in our county, I say…JOB WELL DONE!