Exhibitors welcome normality at 2021 Grant County Fair

MOSES LAKE — The 2021 Grant County Fair got two thumbs up from Easton Sutor.

Sutor, of Royal City, was among the kids exhibiting animals at the fair, which turned out to be a pretty normal fair in times anything but normal.

Exhibitors showed their animals, friends got to hang out, go to the carnival and the food booths, kids took their turn at barn duty, the kind of activities common at the fair before the arrival of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Grace Solis, of Royal City, said she expected restrictions connected with the pandemic, masks and social distancing. Instead it turned out to be a normal fair, and that was a good thing, she said.

She appreciated the chance to show the pig she raised during the summer, and to see other kids show their animals.

“Showing the animal they worked hard on,” she said.

Her pig didn’t really perform up to her expectations.

“She didn’t do amazing. She was kind of stubborn,” Solis said.

The pig performed well when Solis was training it at home, she said, but being in the arena with other pigs was an unfamiliar situation her pig didn’t handle well. Nevertheless, Solis and her sister, Ivy Solis, did well when it came time to sell.

“We got a profit. We got a good profit,” Grace Solis said.

The fair was canceled in 2020 due to the pandemic, and Riley Farman, of Othello, said that made a difference when coming back for 2021.

“I think I appreciate it more this year,” Farman said.

The fair was a lot of fun, she said, seeing friends and showing her animal.

“Getting back to being normal, I guess,” she said.

Fellow Othello FFA member Emma Bologna agreed it was a fun week, and a chance to get back to something approaching normal.

Haidyn Sutor is part of a Royal City area 4-H group, of which members hadn’t met in person since the start of the pandemic, she said. Like Grace Solis, Haidyn Sutor expected restrictions due to the pandemic, and appreciated the chance to have a normal fair.

“This week went by really quick,” she said.