A cooler and overcast Thursday didn’t keep the crowds away from the Lorain County Fair.

4-Hers flocked to Junior Fair Night, complete with an awards ceremony and parade. And spectators packed the grandstand for a horse pull competition.

Fairgoers filled the midway, snacking on fair food and racing from ride to ride.

See if you spot yourself or someone you know in this video:

A first-time turkey caller and a veteran rooster crower took home top honors today at the Lorain County Fair.

Emily Pohorence, 13, of Huron, also won first place for rooster calling in 2007 but didn’t place last year. She said she spent fair week so far “practicing in the chicken barn.” Asked how the chickens reacted, “they did it back,” she said.

Emily, who goes to school at Firelands and is a member of Bits and Spurs 4-H club, rose to the top of the field of 16 to take home the big trophy and blue ribbon.

Emily Pohorence

Adam Cordy

Adam Cordy, 13, of LaGrange, said he’d never even seen the turkey call competition but read about it and decided to give it a try.

“I was just playing around, making noise, and I figured it out,” he said.

It must have worked. He drew laughs from the audience during the contest’s first round when a turkey responded to his call.

He said he hunts turkey and deer with his uncle, but hasn’t had a chance to try out his turkey call while hunting.

“But it works great on the turkeys around the farm,” his dad said.

Annalee Sekulic, 12, of Wakeman, and her goose, Ricky, scurried to first-place honors in the fowl races that followed the turkey calling and rooster crowing contests.

Participants encouraged their ducks, geese and turkeys through an obstacle course: in and out of a slalom, through a tunnel, up and down a ramp and under a board.

It was all in fun, so there were plenty of liberties taken. One boy had to chase his duck halfway down the barn. And there was plenty of pushing and prodding.

Annalee said she got Ricky two months ago when he was a day old — “that’s when they follow you everywhere,” she said — and has been practicing with him everytime she went out to feed the horses.

Contact Rona Proudfoot at rproudfoot@chroniclet.com, (440) 371-0792 or stop by to see her at the fair. She’s based at the WEOL booth and will be wandering the fairgrounds in a bright gold Chroniclet.com T-shirt.

Annalee Sekulic

The horse pull drew a crowd to the grandstand Thursday night at the Lorain County Fair.

The spectators oohed and ahhed as the large animals were brought out, two at a time, and hitched to a large sled of concrete blocks.

More than once the horses failed to cooperate, sending a murmer through the crowd, and prompting the announcer to scold them for it.

After each round the sled was reloaded with 1,000 more pounds of cement blocks.

The Junior Fair celebrated as their events for the week are nearly wrapped up with the Junior Fair awards ceremony and parade Thursday night.

Fair royalty was escorted in to the reviewing stand, awards were announced, and the parade began. First in the parade were animals, and their owners, in costume. Among the fan favorites was Snow White and her string of furry dwarfs.

Then 4-H clubs from around the county paraded through as info and honors about their groups were announced.

The Junior Fair this year has gone smoothly, according to Garrett Schwedt, Junior Fair king and a member of the Junior Fair board.

New this year are premier exhibitor awards that combine the skillathon, type grade and showmanship grade scores, resulting in one premier showman named in each of five categories: beef, horse, fowl, swine and sheep.

The premier showmanship awards are something Junior Fair Board members had seen being done elsewhere.

“We wanted to try something new,” Schwedt said. “It’s just some extra recognition for the kids that try the hardest.”

The winners got gift baskets that included show supplies and gift certificates, he said.

The Junior Fair has goat and dairy shows today and wraps up with market hogs and market beef being auctioned Saturday at the Junior Fair Livestock Sale.