Home is a County Fair

August is a special month in Tioga County, Pennsylvania. Young and old alike look forward to the week of the Tioga County Fair. The fairgrounds, located in the village of Whitneyville halfway between Wellsboro and Mansfield, comes alive with antique tractor pulls, regular truck and tractor pulls, a rodeo, demolition derby, local singers, and, my personal favorites, the 4-H and FFA animals and exhibits and the baked good auction. This year, the 60th year of the Tioga County Fair, it runs from August 10th through the 15th. But it is really a year-long project for many of the participants.

Vintage Power Takes Center Stage at the Antique Tractor Pull

With so much going on, it's hard to fit it all in just one week! Some events, like the antique tractor pull and the Fair Queen coronation, are on Saturday, August 8th. My husband and my youngest son (not young anymore, he's 23!) pull their Minneapolis Molines. My husband has a U, and my son has an R. We also have a Z that my husband's grandfather bought brand new for the farm. The Z isn't a pulling tractor and looks better with its corn planters attached than the pulling sled. If you get what I just said (to be perfectly honest, I don’t get it all), you'd fit right in!

Do they win? Sometimes. My son rebuilt his tractor a few years ago and does quite well with it. But it isn't all about winning. They just enjoy the time together and with other locals who appreciate the old machinery. Quite often they both end the day with a sunburn and a cramped neck from running the pull-back tractor.

A Sweet Fair Tradition: The Baked Goods Auction

Now there's more than antiques at the fair. Monday night is one of my favorite events: the baked goods auction. Bakers from all over the county make their best cookies, cakes, breads, and pies and enter them into the fair contests. I've entered some of my treats. Sometimes I win; sometimes I don't. Some of these recipes are family traditions passed down for generations; some are brand new mixing ingredients that don’t seem to go together to make a divine dessert!

At the auction Monday night, everyone has a chance to buy some goodies. Have you ever paid $100 for an apple pie with two slices missing? How about $23 for four chocolate chip cookies? If not, you may want to make the trip to the main building at 7PM on Monday with a handful of cash. That blue ribbon winner is worth the dough. Take it home and savor it or share it with friends new and old right then and there. All the money raised from the auction goes back to support events at the fair, so even if they snuck an unsuspected raisin in that cookie, it is for a great cause.

4-H and FFA Livestock Shows Celebrate Local Youth

Throughout the week, there are 4-H and FFA livestock shows. The rabbits are Sunday, poultry Monday, goats Tuesday, dairy Wednesday, beef and sheep on Thursday, and swine on Friday. Then the open dairy show is Friday and Saturday. The open show is for adults or others who aren't in 4-H or FFA; it lets them show off their animals and knowledge. For those that aren’t familiar, 4-H is a program for kids 8 to 18 that focuses on developing leadership and life skills. Programs include everything from cooking and sewing to shooting to raising livestock to gardening and so much more. FFA, Future Farmers of America, is through the schools. Technically, it is an agricultural program, but students gain so much including speaking, leadership, and communication skills as well as the agricultural knowledge.

It's a great time. All three of my boys showed pigs and beef, and they're still my favorite shows to watch. Beef cattle are huge and can be very intimidating. The pigs are just a riot. Have you ever walked a pig? You can't put a leash on one and take it for a stroll! Sometimes the pigs are well behaved and go where their owners want them to; other times it's (barely) controlled chaos. 

Bid Big for a Great Cause at the Junior Livestock & Milk Auction

Saturday afternoon is another of my favorite events: the Junior Livestock and Milk Auction. This is where all the animals that the 4-H and FFA kids worked so hard with are sold. It's a sad time for many kids, but it's part of farm life. Hundreds of local businesses and residents come out to support the kids by buying their animals. Just like at the baked goods auction, we all pay a little (or a lot) more than we normally would to help the kids fund their next project whether that is purchasing their next fair animal or updating their equipment or moving on to their next adventure in college.

Why a Real Estate Blog Talks About the Fair

So, why did I just ramble on about the Tioga County Fair in a real estate blog? Well, this is what Tioga County is. If you want to meet the people of the communities, see what locals do, and get a feel for the area, take a day to visit the fair. Take time to see the animals. Grab a milkshake from the 4-H booth. Stop by and talk to the kid scrubbing his pig or scooping up the poo before the cow steps in it — that'll give you a real feel for the place I call home.

Then, if you think this is where you want to put down your roots, give us a call, stop by the office, or check out our website. We can help you find the perfect place — whether that's somewhere you can raise your own animals, a nice in-town home, or anything in between.

If you're already one of us, cheering at the tractor pull, bidding on pie, or helping a kid load a pig into a trailer, you know exactly what this county is worth. And if your own home doesn't quite fit your life anymore, we're here to help you find the one that does. Let's keep you rooted right here in Tioga County, PA. And let us know your favorite part of the Tioga County Fair!