It’s another great week at the Southwest Washington Fair.
As always, the Midway is a prime spot to see old friends and people-watch.
I was privileged to accompany my son and his cousins up and down the fair. We loved the unicycling juggler, who was kind enough to invite the boys to toss him up his juggling clubs after he ascended his six-foot cycle.
The boys also climbed up onto the stage to be hypnotized during one of the fair’s many free shows. I’m not sure the power of suggestion worked on them, but I am sympathetic to the poor hypnotist who was trying to create a calm environment while roosters next door in the Poultry Barn were cock-a-doodle-dooing at what could charitably be described as a distracting volume. Still, we had a great time.
As always, the Rotary corn-on-the-cob is the best deal on the Midway for “real” food, while the fair scones are an affordable treat. Not that I minded the cost of an Elephant Ear, which to me is the flavor equivalent of winning a giant stuffed animal at every game booth over in the kids’ section.
I had a blast taking my dad to a concert by the Kingsmen, a pioneering Northwest rock-n-roll band known best for their 1963 hit “Louie Louie.” The band had an energetic set of rock classics. We enjoyed singing along.
The highlight of the Fair for me, however, was the selection and “caping” of this year’s Little Miss Friendly.
Five finalists all were very sweet and would have done the job admirably. I was there, however, to cheer one one of them — my niece, Clara Hansen. Imagine our delight when she was chosen!
The huge smile on her face is something I’ll always remember. She was given the blue cape and immediately began her duties of giving out stickers and a warm welcome for fair attendees.
While I was sad to see the other girls not achieve their dream this time around, it was neat to see many of them a few minutes later striding together in a little girl-pack around the fairgrounds. Only one wore the cape, but they all wore big smiles.
Win or lose, such friendly little misses stick together, it seems.
Keep climbing to the Cross
Last week I gave a “Rest of Lewis County” award to the Stations of the Cross trail in Mossyrock, a wonderful forested switchback path that features brick nooks with beautiful paintings of Jesus on his final journey before being crucified. The trail ends with a gorgeous view of Mayfield Lake underneath a tall cross.
The DeGoede family, particularly the late Hank and Hildegarde DeGoede, decorated the trail with the Stations of the Cross paintings, erected the 70-foot cross, and built a prayer chapel at the base as an expression of their deep Catholic faith. They opened it all to the public because of their civic-minded generosity.
A few days ago I was able to talk with one of their sons, Jack DeGoede, and received the great news that he and his brother Bob will be keeping the trail open for the foreseeable future as a tribute to their parents. They own that 27-acre property independently of the nearby family business, DeGoede Bulb Farm and Gardens, which is closing down.
“I've had numerous people tell me they're thankful to go up there, both local and even far away,” Jack DeGoede, 71, told me. He notes that the trail needs ongoing maintenance, and that a Scout troop from St. Joseph school in Chehalis has come out to help.
I suggested that the public might be interested in coming out for work parties to help support this neighborhood landmark.
If you’d like to help keep up this wonderful trail, let me or Jack DeGoede know. Good things happen when community-minded folks work together.
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Brian Mittge can be reached at brianmittge@hotmail.com.
