Meet Jill

Jill Darin has been showing her canning at the Henry County Fair
for seven years

Jill Darin of Geneseo enjoys practicing what some people call a lost art. "In some respects canning is a lost art. People are so busy that they find it difficult to find the time. But, I also know that more people having taken up canning or are willing to try it in the last few years." When she first got married, she wanted a garden and after her first year of gardening wanted to save some of her produce, so she gave canning a try. Even though she has won many awards at multiple fairs including sweepstakes and judges choice, her first time canning didn't go so well. "I wasn't too successful back then with making pickles, but canning whole tomatoes was a breeze and gave me confidence to keep trying."

She has been showing at the Henry County Fair for seven years winning in many different classes and divisions such as baking, fresh produce, amateur photography, antiques and collections and crocheted items. "Other than canning I LOVE to enter the pie category" she says. Her least favorite canning item is peaches because it is very time consuming to get all of the skins slipped off of them. The hardest thing to can is any recipe that involves habaneros, "I clean out the house when I do it" says Jill. Her favorite thing to can? Tomato soup. "It makes a cold winter's day enjoyable having a grilled cheese sandwich and a bowl of homemade tomato soup" she says.
Jill believes there are many benefits to canning because she knows what is and isn't in her food and can tailor to fit her family's tastes and canning is so much healthier as well as economical.

Jill's canning has won multiple awards
 including the Sweepstakes and Judges Choice Award 

Jill also points out that one common myth about canning is that canning is dangerous, adding that they thought of the can "exploding" scares people. But she also mentioned that news pressure canners have safety features on them to help prevent any dangerous situations.

What Jill enjoys most about the Henry County Fair is looking at the 4-H and Art Hall exhibits, saying it is wonderful to see everyone's hard work and when asked about the new classes at the HCF she mentioned that they haven't changed too much but maybe just got "a little more defined."

Be sure to check out Jill's canning and other exhibits over in the Art Hall throughout fairweek!

Fairbook Now Online

The Art Hall section of the 2014 fairbook can be found on this blog by clicking the fairbook top tab.

The Art Hall allows local artists an opportunity to showcase their work to the general public. The departments are:

Agriculture Products (which also includes vegetables)
Floriculture (plants)
Textiles (sewing and all types of needle work)
Fine Arts (art as well as photography)
Antiques and Collections
Culinary Baking (baking and canning)
Junior Show I (ages 8-12)
Junior Show II (ages 13-19)

Anyone can enter! The classes have been modernized by the new art hall superintendents Tamra Dynes and Eva Dynes, which just happens to be both my mother and sister respectively.

One of the cool new classes is found in the fine arts department under photography is "selfie." So if you or someone you know takes great selfies be sure to enter it in this years fair!

The complete fairbook should be in hard copy soon at local banks and businesses.

Beyond The Midway

The winter midway at the Henry County Fair along
 with the grandstand (right) and art hall (left)

What comes to mind you think about a county fair? Corn dogs, queen pageants and carnival rides perhaps? But a county fair is more than just that, it's about the meaning of agriculture and its importance. The purpose of this blog is to reveal the "hidden treasures" that make up the fair, beyond the mid-way. This blog will cover topics such as the people, the exhibits, the art hall, the livestock barns and events that define a county fair.

As for myself, I have many fond memories of the Henry County Fair. When I was little I would ride as many carnival rides as I could handle. When I was older and in 4-H I showed art projects and worked the 4-H food stand.  I was also a Henry County Beef Ambassador and handed out ribbons to the many award winning cattle. I hope to communicate the importance of the county fair to friends I have from the city who seem very puzzled by this whole phenomenon. My goal of this blog is to attract people who normally don't attend the fair and to get people aware and excited for it. Another thing I hope this blog accomplishes is to get more people to exhibit and inspire others to actively participate and attend county fairs.