The year was 1974, and the fair was exactly what one young couple needed to shake off their pre-wedding jitters.

“We jumped in my Volkswagen Super Beetle and set out for Wellington,” said Jim Strang.

Once there, Strang and his bride-to-be, Peggy, stopped under the grandstand for a couple of Oh Boys, then “ate our way around the midway,” strolled hand-in-hand through each of the animal barns and vendor buildings and signed up for every giveaway.

We were “just a couple of 20-somethings, lost in each other and trying hard not to think about the enormity of the commitment that we would formalize the next day,” Strang said.

Little did they know, they were committing not just to each other but to the fair where their young love blossomed.

“We did determine that night that we would mark our anniversary in each coming year by returning to the fair,” he said.
Thirty-five years later, the Strangs — and their Lorain County Fair tradition — are going strong.

“It’s not the giveaways that keep us coming back,” Strang said. “It’s not even the fair food, sinfully seductive though it is. The Lorain County Fair is ‘our’ place. We started there. We raised our kids and showed their 4-H projects there. We have an annual date at the Oh Boy stand there. And now the (4-H) advisers there are the kids that once Peggy helped ride to trophies and king and queen honors.”

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Lorain mayor Tony Krasienko remembers the fair food as well, but not necessarily in a good way.

He was 10 or 11 and made the mistake of eating an ice cream orange whip before going on the Rotor. Food plus a spinning ride? Yeah, that isn’t a great combination.

“Not a good move,” he said. “It is not better the second time.”

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Gordon Greene has a lifetime of fair memories — he was fair director for 45 years, starting in 1961.

But he got started long before that, participating in 4-H as a child and attending the fair with his brother.

“I can remember my brother and I said ‘We wish they’d have all the things we want to see on the same day so we’d only have to come once,’ ” he said laughing.

Once he got on the fair board, he realized that was by design.

“That’s the way we get people every day is to have something different,” he said.

His time as fair director was “a lot of fun but a lot of work,” he said.

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When you’re a kid, the Lorain County Fair is the place to be and to be seen. And when you’re a kid living in Wellington, it’s all you think about all year long, according to Avon High School boys basketball coach Jim Baker.

“Growing up, I mean, the fair was a huge deal,” said Baker, who grew up not far from the fairgrounds. “You always look forward to it and when you get a little older, as a teenager, you were at the fair all the time. It’s where everybody got together.”

His favorite memory doesn’t involve the lifelong friendships he made during those fair days and nights. Instead, his favorite memory stars something a little bigger.

“It’s the first time I ever saw a foot-long hot dog,” he said. “I was 7 years old. I remember being amazed that someone would sell a foot long. I couldn’t eat it all, and I’ll tell you anybody who knows me today would probably be shocked that I couldn’t finish a foot long considering how much I eat now.”

Baker said he also remembers fondly the time his dad bought him and his brothers cowboy hats and they wore them on one of the rides, but not for long.

“They flew right off, and my dad had to walk underneath it and pick them up,” he said.

Although he’s graduated from foot-long hot dogs to Italian sausage sandwiches with peppers and onions, Baker said he still makes time for the fair for his family.

“My wife is from Wellington, too, so we try to go back every year,” he said.

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Karen Bremke was the Lorain County Fair’s grand champion of horsemanship 33 years ago, but she isn’t sure if that’s her favorite fair memory or the one she’s made watching her children participate in the fair.

Bremke, 48, said she and her husband, Darren Bremke — who was a champion for showing dairy goats the same year, although they didn’t know each other at the time — are heavily involved in 4-H.

This year, she said, three of their teenage sons are showing lambs, steers, Boer goats and pigs at the fair.

“It’s fun to win, but just being out there with your favorite animal and meeting friends is also fun,” Bremke said.

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Junior grand champion that same year — 1976 — was Victoria Rosado, who grew up in Sheffield and now lives in Henrietta Township.

Besides her big win, Rosado fondly recalls the celebrities she’s met over the years. She and her daughter had their picture taken with Lee Ann Womack, she got Reba McEntire’s autograph, and she and her parents had box seats for Kenny Rogers “when he was in his prime.”

“We still go back to watch the judging,” Rosado said. “To watch the kids with the cows, the pigs, to see how much money the grand champion steer brings in.

“Once you have the fair experience, it’s just awesome. It’s in your blood, and it never goes away,” she said. “We go back every year for the great lemonade, breakfast at the Grange, we go to the entertainment, horse pull and the tractor pull. There’s something for everyone every day.”

Another favorite memory of Rosado’s is camping out for the week as a child.

“That was a highlight every year,” she said.

————

Echoing that is Pat Leimbach, who used to write “The Country Wife” column for The Chronicle-Telegram.

“We parked a truck and slept in the back of the truck most of the week,” she said. “The most exciting thing for the kids was to be there night and morning.”

Leimbach has another memory she calls “shameful.”

The year was 1939, and she was 12. She and her two brothers all wanted to go to the fair, but with the Depression barely over, they couldn’t afford admission for three.

“My brothers decided I should drive and put them in the trunk, and we would sneak in that way,” she said. “We got through the gate where they were collecting the admission, and hardly got past the gatekeeper when I got a flat tire. I had been very seriously instructed never to drive on a flat, so I had no choice but to get out and get the boys out of the trunk and ask my older brother what to do.

Were they busted? Hardly.

“Nobody said anything, and we disappeared into the crowd,” Leimbach said.

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Boy, them city slickers don’t know the difference between an ear of corn and a corn dog, according to Avon Lake Councilman David Kos.

But that’s the fun of coming to the Lorain County Fair every year, Kos said.

“I grew up in Lorain, and — growing up as a city boy — my family would take me to the fair every year and it always amazed me seeing cows, pigs, horses and goats,” he said. “To me that was the same as seeing animals at the zoo. It had all the same magic and wonder. And you could pet them. I know it sounds silly, but that was a big thing to me.”

Now as an Avon Lake resident, he said his 6-year-old son, David Jr., has the same look of magic and wonder in his eyes when they walk toward the animal barns on the fairgrounds.

“I take my son every year and see the same reaction from him from the sounds, smell from food vendors and the same kind of childhood amazement from the animals, food and shows,” he said. “That’s my most precious memory: seeing him.”
He said his son even loves the same entertainment that he did as a child.

“I always loved going through fun houses and mazes and he does the same things,” he said. “I get to go on some of things with him and we’re running through the fun houses and mazes and I’m having more fun than he is. I’m reliving my childhood through him.”

Kos said he takes his son to the fair at least three times during fair week every year.

“We grab one of those big plates of onion rings and an elephant ear and we’re happy as can be,” he said. “It’s a tradition I hope continues and a tradition I hope I can carry on with his kids.”

Two girls and one boy will make up this year’s Royal K-9 Court at the Lorain County Fair. Heavily involved in the 4-H dog program, all are dog lovers who hope to be crowned. prior to the fair’s dog show at 8 a.m. Monday.

Being a member of the Royal K-9 Court is about more than loving dogs. Each 4-H’er has written an essay on a dog-related subject, been subjected to a interview by a panel of three judges, competed in dog shows and also have helped to organize shows and 4-H dog program events.

This year’s Royal K-9 Court is:

Matt Myers

With a name like Roscoe P. Coltrane, it is easy to imagine that the dog on the other end of Matt Myer’s leash as a big canine beast with long gnarly teeth.

If that’s what you think, you would be wrong.

Roscoe, named after the bumbling sheriff on the popular television series “ The Dukes of Hazzard,” is really a white and cream colored Pomeranian.

That’s right, he is a toy dog.

“I get that a lot,” 16-year-old Matt said. “A lot of girls in my club have like Labrador retrievers and golden retrievers, and I’m the guy with the small dog.”

It was sort of by accident that Matt, a three-year member of the Canine Companion 4-H Club, ended up with Roscoe. Although he said he loves all dogs, it was Roscoe who stole his heart. His mother breeds Pomeranians, and Matt said he got too attached to Roscoe to let him go.

After that, it seemed natural that he would train the dog. At this year’s fair, Matt, a junior at Oberlin High School, said he and Roscoe will concentrate on rallying, showmanship and obedience.

The latter should make those in the audience laugh as Matt said Roscoe has the tendency to fall asleep during the routine.
“There is a point where he has to lie down for a long period of time and he just goes to sleep,” he said. “He knows he has to be there for a while, so I guess he figures, why not take a nap?”

Beyond that, Matt said Roscoe has been really easy to train, although his breed has a reputation of being quite temperamental.

“He is a really mellow dog. I haven’t seen that many mellow Pomeranians, but he is pretty calm,” he said.

Roscoe is Matt’s only project this year for the fair and loves the attention he gets because of it.

When Matt is not with Roscoe, he likes to help his father in the machine shop as well as play the violin, a hobby that allowed him to tour Europe this past May. Matt plans to attend the Lorain County Joint Vocational School in the fall.

Kaitlyn O’Brien

Kaitlyn O’Brien of the Tri-City Critter 4-H Club is not ashamed to say Chloe, her 5-year-old black Lab, is a pampered princess.

Downright spoiled, to be exact, she said.

The family dog loves to go out on the town with Kaitlyn’s dad, sleep in Kaitlyn’s bed and whines incessantly until everyone vacates the family couch so she can lie down. Still, Kaitlyn, 18, of Columbia Township, said when she brings Chloe to the county fair, she will be ready to compete like a champion.

“When I compete, it is all about showing everyone how well-trained my dog is and how she listens well,” she said. “I show the other younger members how to train because I’m really good at it.”

To prepare, Kaitlyn said she spends a lot of time going over obedience and showmanship techniques with Chloe. Over the years, the two of them have developed a strong bond and feed off each other, she said.

Kaitlyn is quick to dispel the myth that only kids who bring livestock to the fair are farm knowledgeable.

“When you bring a dog as your project, people think you are not into anything else, like you are not really a farm girl,” she said. “But I can do everything that a farm girl can do. I like being at my friend’s pig farm, rolling around with pigs just like I grew up on a farm.”

Still, Kaitlyn said her heart melts when she is with her four-legged friend.

As a result, Kaitlyn, who is a freshman at Lorain County Community College, said she hopes to translate her passion into a profession. She is studying to be an occupational therapist, a field where she believes a dog could be of great use to patients.

“Last year, I was in a terrible car accident at 301 and Parsons,” she said. “The car I was in was hit and my side took the impact. I spent a month in the hospital, and my friends would bring me my dog to lift my spirits. I remember my dog brought me a lot of joy back then and I can see how it would help others.”

Jessica Robenolt

Showing dogs at the Lorain County Fair is nothing like taking a canine to the Westminster Dog Show.

But that doesn’t mean 4-H kids who bring dog projects to the fair love their animals any less. Just ask 16-year-old Jessica Robenolt of Oberlin.

For 11 years, the member of the Elyria Precious Pups 4-H Club has brought man’s best friend along with her as she competes in the county fair and loves it, she said.

“I just love dogs,” she said. “They are extremely loyal. You will never be alone as long as you have a dog in your house.”

Jessica said she first starting showing dogs several years ago, bringing the family’s German shepherd to the fair. Then, a few years back, she moved on to showing her aunt and next door neighbor’s dogs, a 5-year-old border collier/chow/German shepherd mix named Taz for his rambunctious attitude and knack for eating everything in sight, and a 7-year-old husky/German shepherd mix named Snowball — a moniker given for his fluffy white fur.

“I just like knowing that I’m helping someone else’s dog,” Jessica said. “And, when they perform well, I know it’s my knowledge and my doing for them that is the reason.”

When training dogs, Jessica said she focuses on obedience, grooming, handling and rallying — a skill that mixes obedience and agility together. Still, Jessica said she is not immune to the biggest challenge in training dogs: their attention span.

“Figuring out what catches their attention most and using that weakness to their advantage is still hard,” she said.

Plus, Jessica said she has to keep her moods in check if she wants to have a good day showing.

“My attitude has everything to do with my training,” she said. “When I’m in the bad mood, I don’t even try to train because it will rub off on them. When I am in a good mood, they are happy because they have a need to please.”

When she’s not training dogs, Jessica who describes herself as the “outdoorsy type” trains and rides an Arabian horse, shows rabbits at the fair as well as works on her many sewing projects.

Contact Lisa Roberson at 329-7121 or lroberson@chroniclet.com.

WELLINGTON — “Look at the pony!” is the wrong thing to say to a miniature horse owner like Heather Kuepfer, who will be showing a 5-year-old miniature named Dunkin Dun It Again this year at the Lorain County Fair.

Miniature horse owners “hate that,” she said.

Commonly mistaken for ponies, these horses generally range in size from 28 to 38 inches in height and have become a favorite at the Lorain County Fair, with about 100 expected to be shown this year and perhaps even outnumbering the saddle horses.

Their origin is a bit disputed because independent breeding programs have been established on every continent, but one early account takes the horses back to 1650, where King Louis XIV kept a zoo of unusual animals, including miniature horses. What is not disputed is that these horses are adorable and always a fair favorite, according to those who love them.

The Lorain County Miniature Horse Program also will crown the Lorain County 4-H Miniature Horse Prince and Princess.

The winners of the competition, which has been going on since March, will be announced 6:30 p.m. Monday in Ring A at the Lorain County Fairgrounds with the prince and princess being the male and female who accumulate the most points through events, including showmanship, a written test on miniature horses, essay, interview, public speaking, skill-a-thon judging, sponsorship and sportsmanship.

Vying for the princess crown this year will be Heather, 17, a graduate of Keystone High School; Heather Pataky, 16, a junior at Amherst High School; Tara Smith, 15, a junior at Amherst High School; and Rachel Tipton, 17, a senior at Amherst High School and a Post-Secondary Enrollment Options student at Lorain County Community College.

For Kuepfer, this will be her third time competing. She was first runner-up last year and feels the competition is character-building.

“It shows the strength and courage of an individual who enters the competition — you can do whatever you make up your mind to do,” she said.

She has been a member of the Desperado 4-H Club for nine years and has shown Dunkin Dun It Again for five of those years. She said that they “started out as beginners together,” and that she has, “trained him, I have known him since birth.”

Kuepfer plans to attend the ATI Branch of Ohio State to study horse science.

Pataky hopes to follow in her sister’s footsteps and take home the crown that her sister won in 2006. In attempting to do so, she said she has enjoyed the entire process and is “ready to take on more responsibility.”

She believes that the interview and public speaking are her best events because they allow her to use her communication skills. She will be showing an 11-year-old named Twin Hickory’s Midnight Star.

Smith has been in 4-H for six years and is a member of the Royal Renegades Club. She will be showing her 3-year-old miniature named Grahams Blazin’ Glory.

A member of the Amherst Critters and Such 4-H Club, Tipton is showing her 2-year-old named Karla, who measures 28½ inches tall. She said when she saw Karla, she “had to get her.”

She also said that comparing miniatures horses to dogs might be a bit misguided. “Some people compare them to dogs, but they need what a big horse needs,” she said. “They are quite a bit of work.”

Her speech was on the horse-and-human relationship, and she plans to attend The Ohio State University to study veterinarian medicine.

For prince, the only contestant is Luke Hyer, 15, a junior at North Ridgeville High School. Despite being the only male, Hyer, who is also a football player for North Ridgeville, still has to compete in all of the events in order to secure the crown and score 80 percent or higher of the total possible points in order for final placement.

“No, I don’t think so,” he said when asked if he thought he would have difficulty accumulating enough points.
Hyer, who has been in 4-H for 12 years and will be showing a 2-year-old named Lollypop, said he entered the contest because he “likes to have fun with the animals” and that he enjoys hanging out with friends.

He said he likes showing the horses and did his speech on how to prepare a horse for show. Hyer, who does not have any other horses, said that he likes his horse’s “young attitude” and that she is easier to take care of than a full-size horse. He also said he likes “messing around with them (because) they are not as temperamental.”

In addition to the placement awards, winners in several of the categories will receive additional recognition. The prince and princess will be expected to represent the Miniature Horse Program in the Junior Fair Parade as well other parades and activities over the course of the year.

Contact Rob Swindell at 329-7155 or ctnews@chroniclet.com.

WELLINGTON — Nearly twice as many contestants are vying for the title of Lorain County Horse King and Horse Queen this year as last, even with the months of hard work and a nerve-wracking public-speaking test.

“I don’t really like doing speeches, and I was really nervous,” said 14-year-old contestant Christina Lehane. The speech contest, held in May, is the first hurdle to clear in a bid for the crown.

Public speaking was mentioned a lot by the contestants, but all agreed it’s an important skill to master.

“A lot of my 4-H members urged me to do it,” said 14-year-old contestant Cheyanne Holt. “They think it’ll help because I’m not into the public speaking, so they’re trying to help me be more outgoing.”

Will she compete again next year knowing what to expect?

“Yeah, probably,” Cheyanne said. “It is definitely a lot of work, but I think it does help me with public speaking. I really am not into it. The more you do it, the easier it does get. Overall, I enjoyed the competition. The interview I thought was going to be scary, but it ended up being a lot of fun.”

The next hurdle was the written essay in June. The topic was easy for Christina to pick.

“I wrote about my experiences with horseback riding and how I learn from it,” she said. “I had two horses before Braid, and I wrote about them and I wrote about my experiences with her.”

A written test in July quizzed contestants about their motivation for seeking the crown as well as questions about the grooming and care of horses.

The contestants were then evaluated on etiquette during a dinner complete with more questions and the scores of those were added to the fifth category — showing — to determine the winner.

“It’s not based on popularity —you work hard for it,” said 17-year-old contestant Skye Reid.

The kids show their horses all summer and this competition was one way to get to know each other.

That camaraderie may be the most important thing the six Horse Queen contestants and Aaron Sterk, the lone Horseman contestant, take away from this experience.

“It’s been fun and a great experience,” said 15-year-old Bethany O’Connor. “It’s allowed me to get to know a lot of the people I show (horses) with better.”

All of the contestants are long-time 4-H Club members.

“It’s helping me with public speaking and interviews, just being more comfortable talking to people,” Skye said. “4-H helps with leadership, communication skills, responsibility. When you hold offices in your club and stuff like that, 4-H can do a lot of things for you down the road. It’s a good outside school activity to be involved in.”

Horse Queen and Horseman of the year will be crowned on Monday at the county fairgrounds and will march in the Junior Fair Parade on Thursday.

Horse Queen contestants

• Christine Lehane, 14. of Columbia Township, freshman at Columbia High School, daughter of Lauren and Mike Lehane.
• Cheyanne Holt, 14, of Columbia Township, freshman at Columbia High School, daughter of Chris and Ron Holt.
• Bethany O’Connor, 15, of Penfield Township, junior at Open Door Christian High School, daughter of Pat and Tony O’Connor.
• Cassie Lampe, 16, of Wakeman, junior at Firelands High School, daughter of Jeannie and Ed Lampe.
• Skye Reid, 17, of Wellington, senior at Keystone High School, daughter of Dawn and Rich Reid.
• Angela Gorka, 18, of Sheffield, graduate of Brookside High School, daughter of Karen and Mike Gorka.

Horseman contestant

• Aaron Sterk, 16, of Wakeman, junior at Firelands High School, son of Shelly and John Sterk.

Contact Alicia Castelli at 329-7144 or acastellI@chroniclet.com.