Editor’s note: Christy Fredrickson is on a personal hiatus. Her daughter, Jaime Starck, wrote this week’s column.

It’s that time of year again. The corn has tasseled, there is talk of school starting and there is an event going on that distinctly marks the wind-down of summertime.
It’s time for the county fair.

A fun and exciting time, it offers something enjoyable for everyone. But it especially offers a great opportunity for those of us who like people-watching.
There are all kinds of people you’ll see at a fair. During the day, you can usually spot some 4-H kids having a water fight instead of washing their prized show animals. There will probably be a young 4-H boy proudly displaying the project he worked so diligently on all summer, as well as his friend, who started and finished his project the day before it was due.
Vendors will be set up with eager young salesmen, trying to find new clients, along side volunteers who are mainly concerned that every child gets a candy. It’s highly likely there will be a handful of just-turned-18-year olds, signing up for everything possible, simply because they can.
In the evening there are even more people to see. There will be a farmer, fresh from the field, shaking hay out his hair as he puts on the clean shirt his wife brought for him. There will be high schoolers, who spent hours making sure they look their best. Young parents will be wiping melted ice cream from small faces before they spend the evening at the carnival.
Something else you might notice as you walk through the fair is that everyone you see will have a different level of familiarity. Naturally there will be quite a few strangers, but because the community is small, it’s likely you’ll know a number of people. It seems there are different types of greetings you may use to acknowledge people, depending on how well you know them.
For many people, you might simply smile vaguely because, although you recognize them, you really have no recollection of where you met. Others you will greet with a simple “Hi,” but obviously don’t stop walking. Some you may pause briefly to say hello, stopping to chat for about thirty seconds until you realize your funnel cake is ready. Still others you will be delighted to run into, and may even sit down to catch up, since you really haven’t seen them since the fair last year.
Fair is a lovely time for all ages, and certainly there will be an assortment of people enjoying it. It is a celebration of small town American culture and a time to catch up with friends and neighbors. So hopefully you’ve had a chance to enjoy the fair this year, no matter whom you may have run into.