Fall Season Ushers In County Fair In Fort Bend, Other Communities

ROSENBERG, TX — Nothing says fall in Texas like the county fair, where the smell of funnel cake mingles with the sights and sounds of livestock and carnival rides.

In those parts of Texas where the formerly rural landscape of cotton fields and farms has given way to the urban sprawl of Houston’s encroachment, parades still happen, and schools and county offices still close on the opening day of the county fair.

On Sept. 29, Fort Bend County were closed to take part in this Texas tradition, that include livestock shows, where those kids who carry on the traditions of 4H and Future Farmers of America hope to reap the benefits of their hard work, and sell livestock projects to fund their college education. (Want to get daily news updates and other events going on in your area? Sign up for the free Sugar Land Patch morning newsletter.)

Other students display their skills through photography, painting, floral arrangements, woodworking and metalworking projects that can fetch a nice financial reward for those students who are willing to work hard, and most of them are.

Speak with any Texas FFA or 4H student who has honed the craft of waking up early to exercise and feed a steer, swine, lamb or goat, with the hope of gaining grand champion status, while simultaneously juggling school and a part time job, and you will hear their work ethic loud and clear.

“I learned a lot about discipline, hard work, responsibility,” most will say nearly verbatim, but it’s never coached and it is always true in their heart of hearts.

Most of those same students who opt to carry on the traditions set by generations of rural farming families, stick to those solid roots and go on to careers in agriculture, engineering, veterinary medicine, biology, botany and of course agriculture science teachers.

Those students, rely on the generosity of local business owners, community leaders, and their parents, to help them chase those dreams of adulthood and carry on the tradition that one one way or another, is still a very Texas kind of thing.

Aside from the hard work that comes with the FFA and 4H life, there’s the camaraderie and friendships that are forged, and the fun of concerts, carnivals, rodeos and dancing that that attracts the whole community

The Fort Bend County Fair and the Waller County Fair will continue through Oct. 8, and will end with livestock and project auctions, wrapping up the local tradition and paving the way to for many of these students to continue to the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo in March.

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IMAGE: Ed Uthman via Flickr Commons

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