Big Butler Fair brings friends together
FRANKLIN TWP — With a wide-eyed selection of twirling rides, fried treats and traditional midway games, the Big Butler Fair has a lot that could entice a young person.
But hands-down the children entering the fairgrounds and walking to the barns on the right of the fairgrounds Friday — opening day — named the same favorite attraction: “Just being with friends,” said 16-year-old Samantha Bartley of Valencia.
Bartley, who brought two of her boar goats, Tammi and Tessa, took a seat inside the cage with the animals because they so love being around people. She said she picked goats to show because “they’re adorable.”
Half a barn away, 13-year-old Taylor Kennedy was working up a sweat prepping lambs for show.
“This is about everyone getting together and having fun,” said Taylor of Valencia.
Taylor, the middle sibling of a family dedicated to 4-H, planned to show lamb, pig and steer. Her 16-year-old brother Jacob is the family fair veteran with 7 years experience. And her 9-year-old sister Mayson is making her first showing.
“Tomato,” Mayson said, is the name of the steer she is especially proud to show because it was given to her by her uncle, Harold Kennedy, and the steer is especially well-behaved.
“No one ever gets that lucky,” Jacob said of his sister’s dealings with the steer named for its red coloring. “It’s amazing to see her leading around a 1,200-pound animal. They get so puppy-doggish.”
While families who raise four-legged animals were excited to get the show in, there was a noticeable quiet in the back barn normally dedicated to house rabbits and chickens.
Competitions related to birds have been suspended as a precaution by the state Department of Agriculture to prevent possible spread of the avian flu.
To lighten the atmosphere in the empty fair area, organizers filled cages with stuffed animal toys and plastic, colored eggs. Those “entrants” had to be submitted in the name of a dog.
“The avian flu hasn’t come to Pennsylvania, but you can’t risk it. The kids (who raised birds for 4-H) were really disappointed,” said Rich Morgan, superintendent of poultry. “So we wanted to make it a little fun.”
On the other side of the fairgrounds, Terri DeSimone said her children, ages 8, 6 and 2, were most enjoying the rides and games offered on the midway.
From the Shadyside neighborhood of Pittsburgh, DeSimone said this was the family’s first trip to the fair and they had not yet made their way to the animal display area.
“As soon as they walked in they said, ‘What’s that smell?’” DeSimone said of the animals. “They’re city kids. They didn’t know.”
The fair runs through July 11, and includes fireworks on Independence Day.
