That was a great fair, by the way
LEE ZION, EDITOR
Harrison County Times-Reporter
I had a wonderful time at the county fair last week. I hope you did, too.
I kept myself busy throughout the fair, and so did other people. And the proof of it is last week’s paper had 10 pictures by me from the Harrison County Fair and the parade, in addition to the 11 shots submitted by other photographers. And the dozens of pictures in the Fair Awards section of this week’s paper.
My hope is that you enjoyed them, and better still, I hope that some of you recognized yourselves in the photos I took. After all, that’s what newspapers are about. Newspapers are a forum where people can find out about things important to them. And if something is important to you, it’s important to me, as well.
More fair pictures were added to the Web site just today. Of the new additions, my favorite is the AgAlympics picture, with four 4-H teens being doused with water. It’s a shame that one didn’t make it into the print edition, because the way I see it, four families would have cut that photo out and put it up on the refrigerator.
I loved the look on all four faces. They were hilarious, as was the expression of Fair Board President Riley Kurth, in the background. I just wish more readers could have seen it. Well, all of you can see it now. Just get online.
Get online, says the old-school newspaper journalist. Sigh.
As I had promised earlier, I was available so people could stop and talk to me about the newspaper, and some folks did. One man said he wanted to make sure that I was a real person, which I found a bit odd, but I assured him that yes, I am a real human being, and all the strange things I described happening to me were honest and for real.
Another person at the fair described all the things that were wrong with the newspaper and with newspapers in general. I won’t get into who she is or what she said, because I am not going to dump on anything. But I vowed to her — and now I make that same vow to you — that anything I can fix at the paper, I will fix.
Yet another person said she had noticed an improvement, dating from the moment I came on board. I thank you for saying this, although it’s not my place to say how much I had to do with any of it.
And speaking of improvements, I already have an idea of one thing that can be added to next year’s fair. Me!
No, it’s not like I want to make anything about me, personally. But during the parade, I will make sure that the Harrison County Times-Reporter is visible. Even if that means having to drive my Chevy Bolt along the parade route, tossing candy. Meanwhile, Matt Gengler will be the one snapping photos along the sidelines.
He’s already given his tentative permission to participate this way. He made it absolutely clear that he will not be marching alongside me, so this is a suitable compromise.
When I was taking photos of the parade this year, I’m pretty sure I didn’t body slam any youngsters reaching for candy, although I did grab two or three thrown Smarties for myself. As for Matt, I have no idea what he might do. Let’s see if the county fair parade next year can be as calm as this year’s.
And thank you to Harrison County, the 4-Her’s and the volunteers, for making this year’s event such a great success.
