Harford County's farming and 4-H community can take a deep breath and relax.
The closing of the 29th annual Harford County Farm Fair Sunday was not only an end to a marvelous event, but also a relief after many months, and for some nearly a year, of working toward the fair.
But, it won't be much of a respite for many of those involved.
Organizers of any big, annual event in Harford County will tell you the planning for the next year's starts the day after this year's ends. That's certainly true with the Farm Fair, if the organizing and planning and fundraising ever stop, even for a day. For the most part, it's never ending.
The sense of relief is especially true for the 4-H kids who raise animals to show and sell at the fair's annual livestock auction.
"I think it's just really rewarding to be out there and to finally sell them off and get the rest of the year off," Skylar Majewski, 10, of Forest Hill, said after Saturday's auction. She had raised and showed pigs at the fair.
Her mom, Brittany Majewski, also said 4-H and the Farm Fair teaches children valuable life lessons. Skylar was "there every day, feeding them, caring for them, working with them," her mother said about her daughter and her pigs. "It just teaches kids to really work hard, and they get to see a project from start to end."
That applies not only to the 4-H program, but also to the many volunteers who make the Farm Fair happen each year. As with most volunteer organizations, the Farm Fair Committee has had its ups and downs as volunteers have come and gone.
But no matter what has happened between the end of one fair and the beginning of the next one a year later, the Farm Fair has always been something of which all of us in Harford County can be proud. This year was no exception. It's great family entertainment at more than reasonable prices and it presents a wonderful story about farming and the farming life.
The fair's most important mission, which it has done exceedingly well for the past 29 years, is to keep the agricultural community in front of the rest of us who aren't producing the food and fiber on which we depend.
That's not easily done, but the Farm Fair has done more than enough. And, the Farm Fair would be nothing without the people who organize it and the people who visit and participate.
Bob Tibbs, a farmer from Level, was honored this year with the Pulling Award signifying an invaluable member of the volunteer group that puts on the fair. Tibbs has been at it a while and is long overdue for the recognition.
He, and so many others like him, have made the Farm Fair relevant and kept it going.
Now, they all can follow the wisdom of the girl who showed pigs:
"You get a really good, accomplished feeling because you worked so hard," Skylar, the 10-year-old 4-H member, said.
Many people affiliated with 4-H and the Harford County Fair Farm have earned the right to feel that way this week. Well done!