Three Hats, One Fair: Our Adams County Fair Experience
The Adams County Fair is pure energy.
It’s wholesome, lively, and full of fun. There's nothing like the hum of the fairgrounds during fair week. Between preparing meals, running dairy shows, and keeping the milkshake stand going strong, I’ve worn lots of different hats this week. So pull up a lawn chair like we’re sitting in our corner of the dairy barn, and let me tell you about this past fair week through the lens of three roles that mean the world to me.
Hat #1: Feeding the Adams County Fair Family
Feeding people during the fair is a tradition I look forward to every single year. Here's how the week of meals unfolded:
Wednesday Night
We fed the queen pageant judges supper. What an honor to fuel the folks evaluating our royalty candidates! They enjoyed a grilled pork chop dinner.
Thursday Lunch
We served the Holstein Club show, and our signature Sloppy Bobs took center stage. Name a better pair than a Sloppy Bob sandwich and a dairy show.
Friday Night
After the bull riding wrapped up, we fed them Sloppy Bobs and potato salad. There's something special about feeding cowboys after a long night in the arena.
Saturday Lunch
The grand finale meal came after the open dairy show, and it was a feast. We laid out BBQ pork and hot roast beef sandwiches, mac and cheese, baked beans, potato salad, fresh cubed watermelon, scotcharoos, and tea and lemonade to wash it all down. It was absolutely delish.
What makes these meals so meaningful is how they tie into the dairy shows. The open show has always been the biggest dairy show during the fair, and by the time it wraps up, exhibitors are hungry. I remember eating this same Saturday meal every year for as long as I have memories of the fair. That's the thing about the fair — it's tradition for so many of us, woven into the fabric of who we are.
Hat #2: Dairy Superintendent
I've spent over 25 years of my life showing Holstein cattle at the Adams County Fair. Showing has always been a fun and important part of my life, and it's in my blood.
This was my third year serving as Dairy Superintendent, and I genuinely love it. Being involved in the shows and working with our exhibitors who are truly amazing farmers is a privilege. One of my favorite parts is selecting the show judges. I love choosing local judges for our junior show to support talent close to home, and then bringing in a well-known judge from further away for the open show to elevate the competition.
Responsibilities as superintendent include running fair and ethical dairy shows while ensuring that all exhibitors follow state guidelines for bringing their herds to the fair. It's part leadership, part logistics, and part heart. The people in the dairy barn have become family over the years.
Although 4-H and FFA shows fall outside my responsibilities, they are absolutely vital to recognize. Without those organizations, the future of dairy showing would be bleak. We’re thankful for the young people who continue to be involved in this industry. They give us hope for what's ahead.
Hat #3: The Milkshake Stand
Oh, the milkshake stand. Where do I even begin?
I've been fortunate enough to be the chairperson of this stand for close to 15 years, and it is a beloved fair tradition owned and operated by the Mississippi Valley Holstein Club. We've been selling milkshakes at the fair since the 1950s — that's decades of hand-drawn shakes and happy fairgoers.
It’s so much bigger than milkshakes: the club is extremely giving and forward-thinking. Proceeds from fair week go directly into area food pantries across the tristate area. We donate as many dairy products as we can with two large food distributions each year. So when you buy a shake, you're feeding your community in more ways than one.
My job includes working with our vendors and keeping the stand open, staffed, and running for 12 hours daily, 7 days in a row. It's a joyful grind.
Now, let's talk about flavors. If you've never experienced an Adams County Fair milkshake, here's what you need to know: small or large, and then chocolate, vanilla, or twist! I'm a large vanilla girl myself, and Bob prefers a large twist.
Speaking of Bob — I have to give a shoutout to my guy. Bob is truly the main dude for the milkshake stand. He's our repairman, the one who puts the machines together and keeps them running all week long. But being the maintenance man isn't his only fair job. He's also the first man of the dairy barn for the exhibitors — always there, always helping. He is almost always by my side during the fair, and he is appreciated more than he knows.
If you've never waited in line for a milkshake on a warm evening at the Adams County Fair... then where have you been?!
Lessons From Three Hats
When I look back at all three of these roles, three lessons rise to the top:
Community. The fair is people. It's the exhibitors, the volunteers, the families, the judges, the kids in the barn. It's all of us showing up for each other, year after year.
Giving back. From the milkshake stand proceeds feeding our neighbors, to the meals we prepare for exhausted exhibitors — the fair is about pouring into others. That's what makes it matter.
Supportiveness and gratitude. I cannot even begin to name all the people who continue to make these moving parts possible. They've been part of my fair family for my whole life, and I am deeply grateful for every single one of them.
Fairs matter because this is how we keep agriculture alive. For people to be able to see and be a part of where their food comes from — that’s ultimately what the fair is about.
Until Next Year
The end of the fair is always bittersweet for us. But the momentum doesn't stop as our next event is already upon us. The Compeer and Adams County Farm Bureau Appreciation Picnic is next Thursday in Quincy, and we're hoping to see close to 1,000 of our farm and fair friends there.
Your turn — do you have a favorite fair memory? I'd love to hear it.
Until next year, fairgoers and friends — the fair is over for another year! 💜