Opinion

COLUMN

THE WOODSTOCK INDEPENDENT

Aug. 14-20, 2013

Pass them on: truisms from the state fair and Facebook
July and August are fair months in Illinois. Most of Illinois 92 county fairs were in July and August again this year, and the Illinois State Fair began Aug. 8 and continues through Aug. 18 in Springfield. My husband, Jim, and I went to the state fair Saturday and had a wonderful time. Our first stop was the Farmers Market Tent to see if we could buy some Illinois peaches. We were pleasantly surprised. Illinois peaches were being sold, and folks were snacking on watermelon, cantaloupe and about a half dozen other grown-in-Illinois foods, including sweet corn from Twin Garden Farms in Harvard. Our next stop was the Dairy Building to see the butter cow a state fair tradition for more than 90 years. She was a Jersey again this year. Sharon BuMann from the state of New York did, in fact, sculpt the nearly life-size cow from 500 pounds of butter. Sutters State Fair Salt Water Taffy is a must-buy for me, so that was next. We headed toward the grandstand, because the Sutters truck with the taffy-pulling machine making the next batch of sweetness was located near the grandstand five decades ago when I was a 4-Her exhibiting at the fair. We passed booths selling deep-fried candy bars, lemonade shake-ups, turkey legs, cinnamon rolls, elephant ears and so Cheryl much more. And, we Wormley found Sutters near Declarations the grandstand. Salt water taffy is a must-buy for two reasons. First, it also was a must-buy for my mom, and second, its fun to share. It was just about as good as I remember, but the black walnut didnt seem as pungent. The companys website declares the taffy is still made the old-fashioned way, using the same recipes and ingredients as when the company was founded in 1919. Nearly every elected state officer had a tent at the state fair. We entered only one. I was hoping Attorney General Lisa Madigan would be educating the public on its right to know with regard to actions of public officials and public bodies. Not so. She had chosen to emphasize consumer protection. We walked through the swine barn and the sheep barns, but we couldnt walk through the horse barns because chains were draped across the doorways with signs saying the barns were closed to the public. That didnt set well with me. We stopped to watch some of the sheep classes and then some young people showing their pigs. We found the livestock building and watched a judge placing Hereford bulls. My reason for being at the fair was to help host the 4-H Family Event on the Director of Agricultures lawn on the fairgrounds. Annually, the Illinois 4-H Foundation Board, of which Im a member, honors the new class of Illinois 4-H Hall of Fame inductees and the Illinois 4-H family of the year. More than 1,200 people registered to attend this years event at which 63 Hall of Famers were recognized. More than 80 members of the McGrew family from McDonough County were present in matching green 4-H shirts to receive their familys award. I met Amelia Martens, Illinois County Fair queen, who is a graduate of the University of Illinois and 10-year 4-Her. And, while I was helping set up for the 4-H Family Event, Jim had the good fortune of seeing the Budweiser Clydesdales, drivers, wagon and even the Dalmatian sitting next to the drivers. I could go on and on about the state fair, but I also want to share something posted by at least three of my Facebook friends this weekend. It is written to young people as they head back to school, but its message applies to adults just as much. The post reads: Special request to all of you kids returning to school in August: If you see someone who is struggling to make friends or being bullied because he/she doesnt have many friends or because they are shy or not as pretty or not dressed in the most in clothes PLEASE step up. Say hi or at least smile at them in the hallway. You never know what that person might be facing outside of school. Your kindness might just make a BIG difference in someones life!

Cheryl Wormley is publisher of The Woodstock Independent.

COLUMN

A toast to new beginnings

Though Im not one to reveal a whole lot of personal information to the world Im very particular about what I post on Facebook, for example I thought Id share some thoughts about a significant event that recently occurred in my life. On July 5, on a little island at a secret location at a lake in the Northwoods of Wisconsin, my boyfriend Steve proposed. The proposal was very romantic and I said, yes. It was also magical, both figuratively and literally. Shortly after saying yes, we started to catch a bunch of fish, which was a great sign as we had been sitting out in the boat all day without a bite. Since Steve proposed, weve received mostly positive responses about our

engagement; though a few people seemed somewhat shocked. One reason for this may be the fact that we have only been together for 10 months and are getting married in three. It seems there is some Rhonda contrived, unwritten Mix rule against getting engaged before dating Mix Messages for a year. However, I believe the older a couple, the less necessary it is to wait. If you know you want to be together, you know. There are couples more comfortable with dating longterm, and thats perfectly fine, too. It comes down to personal choice. Many couples also seem to have a year-long engagement rule requiring at least a full year to plan for the wedding. Steve and I were against dragging things out for no good reason other than to fit in to the norm. As Im not a fan of highfalutin, lavish weddings, weve also decided to keep things as simple as possible without a ton of fanfare, spending money instead on a trip and saving for a new house.

A few people were also a bit taken aback as they assumed that I would always want to remain a single soul, wandering the globe alone, whenever I could manage to get away. While I admit this lifestyle did appeal to me at times and Id pretty much decided Id be single forever, solo travel can get a little lonely. I have no problem traveling on my own I love it, in fact but its nice to finally have a significant other who has a sense of adventure. One person said, I thought you were always going to travel. Now you are just going to settle down and have kids instead. This allegation is annoying for more reasons than one. Since travel is a passion of mine, and my future husband is aware of this, its something Im always going to do when the opportunity arises. Im sure Id become seriously depressed if I never traveled again, and Steve knows its important to me. His dreams and aspirations are equally important, and I will support him in achieving them. There also is a notion that once one gets married and has children, life basically ends and freedom is gone forever one might as well resign themselves to a life of stress and boredom. Mar-

riage tends to have such negative connotations in our society. My response is that if and when Steve and I do decide to have a child, having a child will not stop us from living a good and fruitful life, full of new experiences (and travel, when possible). People end up where they end up because of roads they choose to venture down. If one isnt happy in his or her life or marriage, its a personal problem. All people have options about what to do with the time they are given on this earth. Sure, I have slight anxiety about married life and what it all means, but, at the end of the day, I believe marriage will be the greatest adventure Steve and I have yet to experience. I welcome the journey with open arms. Heres to change and new beginnings! A life of adventure is ours for the taking, whether were 7 or 70. Life for the most part is what we make it. We have been given a responsibility to live it fully, joyfully, completely, and richly, in whatever span of time God grants us on this earth. Luci Swindoll

Rhonda Mix is a staff writer for The Woodstock Independent.

I NDEPENDENT
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