I went to the Skamokawa Fair this afternoon.
It had been decades since I’d been there – I think Stacey was 9 years old last time we went: she’s 47 now.
The Fair now, is nothing like it was in its heyday – but it was still enjoyable. The lure of biting into an Elephant Ear was the pull that got me there; but the memories stirred up kept me there, walking through the grass, and buildings.
The first year my family moved to WA State, in the summer of 1966, there was quite a bit happening at the Fairgrounds. Along with the regular fair things like 4-H stalls and Farm Women handicraft; there was a wrestling ring with betting, a full-fledged rodeo, a square dance stage (I first saw Bob’s parents there – though I had no idea who they were at the time), local musicians playing on a field stage, Bingo, various carnival rides (I liked the Ferris Wheel, Hammer, and the Zipper Rides), a Hamburger field kitchen, an Elephant Ears stand, and later – a dance for the teens in the Grange a few feet off the fairgrounds (I saw Paul Revere and the Raiders that year going into the building … but I had no idea who they were until I saw them on the Fall TV series, ‘Battle of The Bands’). I would have been too young to watch them on the Grange stage anyway that year – I was 4 months short of 10 years old.
But my siblings and I went faithfully to the Fair every year – as we got older … we went with friends, and we girls went with boyfriends; and my brothers with girlfriends.
Today, the Fair is quite a bit smaller; it’s basically a family reunion of sorts as most of the people are related in some way, and they gather at the fairgrounds to chit chat and let the kids run free. The 4-H Club is still going strong – but millennium preppers have replaced farmers – but their kids enter crafted items and garner ribbons like regular 4-Hrs, and women still enter their crafts, too – in the same building where farmer’s wives used to show their goods. Local musicians still grandstand on the field stage … but there is no longer a Grange dance, later on, for the teens. I don’t know if the bull-riding event took place because I didn’t go the full 3 days … but there are no carnival rides anymore. Bingo is still in play; and I saw some kiddie games (win-a-goldfish type of thing) in the backend of the field behind the hamburger field kitchen.
That’s it; very low key.
Today, I paid my $5, and entered.
I was glad I went: there are good
memories there.
Bob took me to 2 Fairs that Summer of 1974.
I had never been to the Cowlitz Fair before.
We went to the Cowlitz County Fair in the evening – after he got home from work. We cleaned up; drove to Longview and enjoyed pizza and a Lowenbrau beer at Pietro’s Pizza Parlor, before strolling hand in hand through the Fair. The hubbub of the Fair was fun, but Bob’s presence beside me was what lit up my world. Bob threw baseballs and I chucked pennies for prizes; we both threw darts. But our minds were really on each other … and dancing later at the Riverside Lounge, across the river in Rainier, OR. We came home with minor prizes.
Bob was not the first guy I went to the Wahkiakum Fair with: but the memory we made there, is the one that sticks in my mind; and warms my heart 😊
We went to the Wahkiakum Fair in the afternoon after a lazy-day Saturday morning – wedding plans were in the making; so, I was at Bob’s house first thing in the morning, and last thing at night. Bob was shaving, and I was watching: he was watching me watch, then he suddenly grinned and placed a dab of shaving cream on the tip of my nose, and splashed a bit of water in my direction. We both laughed, and I wiped the shaving cream off my nose before snapping the tip of the towel at his manly backside. He asked me if his sideburns were straight – turning his head so I could judge both sideburns; I judged them, and said they were both even. He finished up, and got dressed, and we left for the Fair.
The Wahkiakum Fair was a small affair compared with the Cowlitz Fair. But that didn’t matter – the atmosphere was the same: and there would be a dance at the Grange, next door, later on. We paid admittance fee, got the back of our hands stamped, and took our time walking through the Fairground – talking to people who hailed Bob in passing. It seemed to me that Bob knew everyone (people came from all corners of the County), so we were there quite awhile while he jawed with them … and I was scrutinized: people were curious. Obviously, I wasn’t gloria. And Bob was walking with me, bold as life (some knew Bob was divorced, others didn’t). Bob held to my hand; squeezing it now and then, to let me know he hadn’t forgotten me, and that he knew how nervous I was meeting all these new-to-me people.
We eventually left the fairground, bought a 6-pack of Rainier beer, pepperoni sticks, a bag of chips and clam dip at Hoby’s Store; and spent the rest of the afternoon in the little hideaway cove at the far end of Skamokawa Beach along the Columbia River. We had brought our swim wear, and Bob swam like a fish in the river as I floated in the shallows.
Bob was gorgeous to look at – 6’2” of handsome masculinity in action, a sense of peaceful confidence when he was relaxing. I loved his spirit … and the body that spirit was housed in: sun-streaked rakish hair, beautiful Asian eyes, charming sexy smile, and a toned chestnut-tanned long drink of man.
I loved looking at him.
I loved feeling his eyes on me.
I loved loving on him.
I loved him loving on me.
I loved knowing he was exclusively mine.
I loved knowing he wanted me to be exclusively his.
I loved being a loving couple.
We laid out on a blanket under the cooling summer sunrays to dry off before switching out clothing; then we drove back to the Fair to meet friends, grab a ‘burger, and dance the night away at the Grange.
But before we danced, Bob spotted the Strong Man Tower – and couldn’t resist it: he hefted the oversized hammer with his right hand and brought his arm down … and shot the bell striker to the top with one strike.
I was awed.
I was amazed he would do that, 3 times: winning me the grand prize 3 times 😊: a big black cat with green eyes, a rainbow striped snake with black eyes, and an oversized teddy bear. They were stashed in the 2-tone Ford while we danced.
I got home an hour after midnight curfew … but it was okay: my parents made allowances for me to stay at dances until the band packed up 😉
The next week, Bob & I were married 😊
And for most of our 44 years of married life, I would watch him use that same one-arm-axe welding chop to cut cords of wood to lay away for the wood stoves’ winter stashes: he moved in such a smooth fluid action – grab a chunk of wood with his left hand, place it on the chopping block; and bring the axe down in one fell swoop with his right arm.
Over and over again, like a human conveyer belt.
For hours, until the pile of wood was chopped into stove-size widths; the last wood stove we had was on Sparks Drive, in Lexington: 4 winters ago.
Can it really be that long ago … and yet, not so long ago?
Bob was a strong man, with strong arms; and a strong love: I miss all of it.
