For some people, the holiday season is their favorite time of year.
For me, it’s fair season, and that begins on today with Chelsea Update’s extensive coverage of the 2022 Chelsea Community Fair.
For the weeks leading up to fair, there will be stories and previews of all the fun things that take place, and then of course, coverage of all the wonderful events that make up fair week, which this year is Aug. 23-27.
My love of all things fair began at the Ann Arbor News when I was assigned to cover every fair and festival in Western Washtenaw County. Each is special and fun in its own way, but there was, and continues to be, something different about the Chelsea Community Fair that makes it special year after year.
That starts with all the amazing people I’ve met and worked with throughout the years. From the all-volunteer fair board to the many superintendents to the youth exhibitors and their parents – they are so helpful and accommodating as I flit about the fairgrounds – camera and notebook in hand. I couldn’t provide the extensive fair coverage that I do without them. So, thank you all ahead of time. I know how exhausting fair week is, believe me, but without all of you, I’d be lost.
And, as long-time readers of Chelsea Update know, I do enter a cross-stitch piece each year. Although for the most part, I stitch farm animals for my fair entry, this year, I’m entering something feathered instead of furred. But I think it still has a fair feel because of the hollyhocks that provide the backdrop for the piece.
Hollyhocks bloom in mid-summer and are a classic cottage garden staple. Although I haven’t tried to grow them at my house, I might in the future. Currently, I do have some of their “cousins” here – hardy hibiscus and rose of Sharon so those splashy blooms are familiar to me.
If you’d like to see a glorious display of hardy hibiscus and other gorgeous flowers, be sure to spend a little time walking about the service center building on the fairgrounds. Be sure to take the time to appreciate the hard work of the volunteers who keep those gardens looking spectacular during fair.
Hope to see you there.
