Trip To The Delaware State Fair 7/25/11

I didn’t realize it had been nearly a year since I posted to this blog! I’ve gotten lazy just posting pictures and comments to Facebook. We’ll, I’m back, at least for now!

Yesterday Margaret and I made our annual trip to the Delaware State Fair. One thing about Delaware, nothing is very far away. It’s only about a 30 minute trip for us to get the the fair grounds. Yesterday was the day for us to go partly because it was Seniors’ Day—we got in for free. There are some good things about being a senior! :-)

We arrived about 11:30 and our first objective was lunch at the Grange

Margaret in front of the Grange dinning hall

Margaret had the fried chicken platter (right), and I had the ham platter. Good stuff!

Next we went though the wildlife exhibit and then on to Margaret’s favorite stop, the peeps in the fowl exhibit.

This farm girl was right at home!

Next we were off to the 4-H exhibit hall

This is about 1/2 of the Place Setting entrants

Our favorite Place Setting exhibit was a 1st place winner, the Blue Bunny Willow

We loved the rabbit ear napkins

Among the numerous science exhibits was this one about the affects
of various styles of music on plant growth

Apparently they didn’t include Southern Gospel music in the experiment

Just a small portion of the equipment on display.
The two items in the bottom right, with the chimneys, are outdoor wood/corn furnaces.

There are small garden plots throughout the grounds. This one includes a waterfall and pond.

We had to stop at the farm animal petting area which included this miniature horse
(included for our friend Elaine)

Next to the peeps, the baby pigs are Margaret’s favorites

This was one of the vendors in the Marketplace under the grandstand.
We had to get pictures of this for our daughter Sheri who LOVES all things purple!

The Purple products

Some of the craft exhibits in the Dover Building

More crafts

Our very own Smyrna Citizens Hose Company volunteer band parades through the grounds each evening at 7 PM

Our last stop of the day was the Ice Skating Club’s presentation of Peter Pan
(click the image to watch a video of the closing number)

Christmas Ice Show

We went on another date this afternoon.  This time it was to the Center Ice Rink at the Delaware State Fair grounds in Harrington, DE to see the 2009 Christmas Ice Show.

The main entrance brings you into this area which includes a store and snack bar

It is a full-size rink that is also used for ice hockey

Just a few of the people who were there.  Margaret is seated in the middle front behind the man with the yellow sleeve jacket.  We were only about 10 ft from the edge of the rink.

Santa riding on the Zamboni.  During the show’s intermission he was rink-side giving candy canes to the kids.

Sitting in a room with a lot of ice means it is COLD.

Margaret also brought two throws to fold up and make seat cushions for us

The show was based on Dickens’ A Christmas Carol.  This is a brief clip of the scene with Bob Cratchit and Tiny Tim

Before the intermission there were performances by singles and pairs skaters who had competed at the national and international level.  Shown here is an excerpt of Cassandra Jeandell and Damian Dodge. They are alternates to the 2010 US Nationals competition.

Margaret loves figure skating and we go to events whenever we can.  Both of us enjoy watching the youngsters in these local shows.  The little ones are so precious!  There are also two rinks in Newark, DE plus another in Wilmington, DE.  Now that we are retired we can attend more of the shows.

In His name,
Chaplain Sam Houchins