The Alternative Press

AUGUSTA, NJ – “Fair weather” and large crowds prompted organizers of the Sussex County Farm and Horse Show to keep the fair open an additional two hours on Sunday, to 7pm.  Exciting entertainment, fabulous food, and a huge selection of Sussex County Farming Heritage made for a great day.

Creative Arts for Home and Hobby showed over 70 classes of crafts, including canned vegetables and fruits, homemade mustard, syrup, jelly, jam, and baking.

Beautiful displays of quilts, needlework, knitting and crocheting hung on the walls. Nicci Bush won a second place ribbon for her quilt.

“It took more than a year to make," she said.

She chose her design through a quilt store in Clinton, NJ, after joining the “block of the month” program, where she received a block each month in the mail. 

Ann Marie Grunn, from Belevidere, NJ is part of the Lost Art Lacers in Newton, NJ.  She demonstrated how to make traditional handmade bobbin lace.  It was one of the ways that lace was made before machines were mass produced around 1840.  It was a cottage industry, but also a way for women to make their livelihood. 

She explained, “I weave my motif from this pattern, called a pricking, which is rolled around a bolster, so I can make continuous lace.” They had a demo pillow, to teach the young ones how to make the first stitch.  “The important thing is to pass it along to the next generation.  We are a guild that keeps lacemaking, crocheting and tatting alive. “

The Sussex County Beekeepers Association drew a large crowd, partly to watch the demonstration, and partly to buy the honey.  Their mission is to encourage and promote beekeeping and education about bees.  Many people sign up here at the fair, and are contacted to be part of a two day course in March, which covers bee biology, life cycles of the hive, and how to get started.  Start up costs may be around $600 or less. 

Leeann Coleman, second vice president of the club explained why she became a beekeeper, two years ago.  “I am an organic gardener.  One year, I had no squash, no cucumber, no pumpkins or zucchinis growing in my garden.  I called the County Extension Office, who asked if I had any bees on my vegetables.  There were no bees, not a single one.  I read about it on the Internet, and found the club.  The course was only $60, so I took it.  After I learned about it, I decided it was really for me.”   She explained that “getting stung is usually the result of doing something really dumb, like dropping a tool in the hive.  Honey bees are only interested in pollen from flowers.  Yellow jackets and hornets are in the wasp family, they are the ones who hover around your hot dog or soda. “

Fly Fisherman Greg Becker, owner of White Water Flies, which sells fly ties, tools and materials for fly fishing, used natural materials such as deer hair and rabbit fur to make fly fishing lures.  Onlookers could watch the beautiful way he tied the materials to the lure. 

Becker shared one of his treasured moments in fishing. 

“This past week, I went up to Cape Cod, and I went out on my kayak before it got light, in the calm of the morning, I went out with my fishing light and waited for the fish to come around.  They did and I spent the next four hours catching fish in my kayak, it doesn’t get any better than that.  I caught blue fish, stripers and sea bass out in the ocean.”

The fair is a family legacy for many. Tiffany Kunz, of Lafayette, is a third generation farmer, and a member of the Capricians goat club.  Her mother,  Anne Guirreri  Cutler, was Queen of the Fair in the 1960’s.  Kunz was Rabbit Queen back in the 80’s. Her daughter shows horses with the Top Brass Farm, and won the Grand Championship Junior Showmanship award this year.  

Many 4-H children proudly worked with their animals throughout the day. Alexandra Lazorczyk, age 9, of Wantage, is part of the Nifty Little Critters rabbit club.  Her three animals won two blue ribbons and a trophy.  The Awesome Alpaca Adventurers, Branchville, competed in the “egg and spoon” contest.  George Delgado, age 9, was the first to successfully lead his alpaca through an obstacle course while holding an egg on a spoon in his other hand.

Entertainment for the day included Robinson’s Paddling Porkers, who ran the pig races.  Pigs with names like “Brittany Spare Ribs,” “Lindsay Lo-ham,” and Dale Oinkhart, Jr., raced a track and jumped into a swimming pool among cheering onlookers.

The High Flying Pages carried out breathtaking acrobatic stunts high above the crowd, and a ballerina did headstands and jumped through a hoop while riding bareback on a white horse.

Many booths contained community services.  Pink Heals encouraged breast cancer survivors and those who have lost loved ones to sign a pink fire truck, donated by a golf club in New York State.  If you would like to have the truck at an event, please contact them at www.pinkhealsnnj.org  If the date is open, they will be happy to accommodate you.  Many firefighters volunteer to drive the truck to various locations.

The American Red Cross was recruiting volunteers, as well as providing educational materials about what to do in case of a disaster.  Volunteers include medical personnel and rescue workers.  A few years ago, the Fairgrounds themselves became a shelter for pets rescued from Hurricane Katrina in Louisiana.

Lost Art Lacers, Newton:  http://www.lostartlacers.org/

Sussex County Beekeepers:  http://brodheckerfarm.com/Newsletters/SCBA%20Dec%2007.pdf

White Water Flies, online fishing supplies: http://www.whitewaterflies.com/

Info to enter into 2013 Home and Hobby Competition: www.njstatefair.org , click on the “Exhibitors” tab, scroll down to Creative Arts for Home and Hobby tab.