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Rockingham County Fair Carries On

The Rockingham County Fair is among the largest in Virginia and has won first place for its agricultural exhibitions for about 20 years running. This year, the fair carried on with agricultural displays and livestock sales, without a lot of other bells and whistles. WMRA's Randi B. Hagi reports.

The Rockingham County Fair last week still had a jovial feel to it, if not the normal throngs of people, concerts, or carnival rides. The grandstand was supposed to host country artists Jimmie Allen, Matt Stell, and The Hackens Boys this year. Instead, tractor pulls were the main attraction.

There were still plenty of animals to see, though, like those in the poultry, pigeon, and rabbits hall as well as cattle, hogs, sheep, and goats to purchase in the livestock auctions.

Samantha Atkins showed two Boer goats this year. She's in the Singers Glen 4H Club and the FFA at Broadway High School, where she's a rising junior. While the pandemic did throw a wrench in her plans to get into the sheep category, she's already looking forward to the 2021 fair.

Samantha Atkins

ATKINS: It's been really good but the challenge is because of COVID, because we didn't think we were going to have a fair … I was planning on showing a lamb as well, because you're allowed to do three animals. And I didn't get to this year, so my goal is for next year to definitely show a lamb.

Signs were posted asking fairgoers to wear masks, and fair staff and volunteers wore plastic face shields, but the noses and mouths of most patrons went unadorned.  For WMRA News, I'm Randi B. Hagi.

Randi B. Hagi first joined the WMRA team in 2019 as a freelance reporter. Her writing and photography have been featured in The Harrisonburg Citizen, where she previously served as the assistant editor; as well as The Mennonite; Mennonite World Review; and Eastern Mennonite University's Crossroads magazine.