Blue Ribbons for Fairest of Rural County Fairs : From California to Kentucky, each selection features a unique food, tradition or activity.

Summer didn’t feel like summer ought to feel. Then it came to me in a rush. A month of Sundays had come and gone since I’d been to a rural county fair like the ones I remembered from the ‘50s.

You know the kind. Where you spit watermelon seeds from the top of the Ferris wheel and roar with laughter. Where you can pet the pigs in the livestock barn. Where booths and rides spread over a grassy field instead of on acres of hot asphalt, and you can munch steamed corn-on-the-cob in the shade of a big tree.

Traditional fairs were history, it seemed, gone the way of fresh eggs and high-top shoes. And then I noticed that high-top shoes were back in style. “Maybe fairs are too,” said my husband, and we were off, a stack of events calendars on the dashboard, road maps in the camper’s glove box, driving across state lines in search of what I hoped wasn’t a memory.

But first I called Stephen Chambers, director of the Western Fairs Assn. in Sacramento, who surprised me by saying that fairs and festivals--state, county and specialty events--are far from an endangered species. Big business nowadays, they draw more than 40 million paid visitors annually.

“We used to worry that when people moved to the city and lost their ties to the farm, they’d lose interest in fairs,” he said. “Instead it’s heightened their curiosity.”

But as state fairs have become giant entertainment spectacles, county fairs, to compete, have returned to their local origins. So in making a list of our personal favorites, first we looked for small to medium-size events, fairs big enough to offer variety but small enough to feel intimate.

Next, each fair had to be an annual community event with a history of past successes. An appealing outdoor setting was also a must: a wooded glen or piney hills, rolling cornfields or fertile river valley. Geographical distribution was a factor, too, so that no matter where you traveled (in the Lower 48) a fair was within reach. Finally, we looked for one feature that made each fair different from all others--a special food, a local sport, a bit of history.

After checking dozens we selected 10 fairs, visited four and sent an emissary--my mother--to the fifth, with orders to report in full. It took a month of Sundays, but it finally felt like summer.

Fair admissions are reasonable, ranging from free to $8 per person, with separate charges for carnival rides, food and grandstand shows. The budget to mid-price hotels listed here come not with our personal recommendation, but at the suggestion of local visitor agencies. At the very least they might provide a starting point for inquiries about lodgings.

NEVADA COUNTY FAIR

Grass Valley, Calif.

Old-timers still pan for gold in the Sierra Nevada foothills northeast of Sacramento, but in mid-August it’s the Nevada County Fair that brings us (and 120,000 fellow visitors) north to visit friends and spend a day at Grass Valley’s pine-shaded fairgrounds.

In these narrow valleys, most residents raise livestock and vegetables on family-size plots and mini-ranchos. Their bounty fills five buildings with 4-H projects, handmade textiles and clothing, baked goods, paintings and carvings, cattle, sheep, chickens and rabbits.

Our Saturday-afternoon favorite is the Loggers’ Olympics, with ax-throwing, Jack-and-Jill log-sawing (couples are teams), tree-climbing and log-rolling. Judging from the attendance, most people prefer Sunday afternoon’s Destruction Derby.

The Bee Keepers’ Assn.’s hive exhibit displays a living honeycomb under glass, filled with blackberry and manzanita blossom honey. New last year was the Chocoholic Contest, a salsa competition and cheesecake bake-off. For quick eats, try the local pasties, serving-size pastries stuffed with meat-herb fillings that were first brought to California’s gold country by Cornish miners.

Aug. 11-15, 1993. LODGING: Holbrooke Hotel, $59-$99, (916) 273-1353. INFORMATION: (916) 273-6217.

ARKANSAS VALLEY FAIR

Rocky Ford, Colo.

An amateur rodeo, Mexican fiesta, Shriner-sponsored parade and free admission make this fair in Rocky Ford, on the Arkansas River 50 miles east of Pueblo, a true, old-fashioned community event.

But according to my mother, 87, who lives part of the year in Estes Park, Colo., and who wouldn’t miss it for the world, the fair highlight is Watermelon Day, when the town gives away more than 50,000 pounds of juicy melons to all comers.

That tradition hails from 1878, she says, when trading post owner George Swink raised a bumper crop, toted a wagonload to the railroad platform, flagged down the train and gave them away to the passengers. Otero County calls itself the nation’s Watermelon Capital, with cantaloupe running a strong second.

Daily events include the Silver King and Queen Contest for seniors (my mother won’t enter--it’s not her style), the Old Timers’ Rodeo and a demolition derby. Melons are definitely in evidence, in jams, jellies, relish, pickles, cookies and breads.

Aug. 19-22, 1993. LODGING: Melon Valley Inn, $45 for a standard double, (719) 254-3306. INFORMATION: Rocky Ford Chamber of Commerce, (719) 254-7483.

WALWORTH COUNTY FAIR

Elkhorn, Wis.

The Walworth County Fair, on Labor Day weekend, means horses and harness racing to folks in Elkhorn, population 5,000. And with tourism rivaling dairy farming in this wooded area an hour’s drive southwest of Milwaukee, the grandstands are packed on Friday and Saturday afternoons.

Truck farming and home exhibits also thrive, displayed in 37 buildings on 90 acres of fairgrounds. Preserves, canning and bakery goods reflect the region’s German and Scandinavian ancestry, as does folk-style embroidery and sewing.

Truck- and tractor-pull contests demonstrate the power of modern farm equipment; livestock exhibits include both junior and open class judging. Country music shows twice each evening this year will headline Ricky Van Shelton, Brother Phelps, Doug Stone and Pam Tillis, and Charlie Daniels. Two massive demolition derbies, on Monday night, wind up the fair.

Sept. 1-6, 1993. LODGING: Lakeland Motel, $45-$75 double, (414) 723-5567. INFORMATION: (414) 723-3228.

TWIN FALLS COUNTY FAIR

Filer, Ida.

Potatoes, sugar beets, alfalfa and dairy cows are king here in Idaho’s Magic Valley on the Snake River. So when the Twin Falls County Fair opens, the town of Filer shuts down and the townsfolk head out to the fairgrounds for livestock judging, farm exhibits and home-making displays. Junior and high school students here take winning a 4-H blue ribbon seriously.

We arrived in time for the rodeo, a Professional Rodeo Cowboy Assn. event with a pot full of prize money and the coronation of Miss Idaho Rodeo Queen. For chills and thrills we liked the bull-riding. For skill and daring, calf-roping and barrel racing are tops.

Don’t miss the Aquaculture Assn.’s Trout Tank, where visitors crowd around to look at a half-dozen varieties, plus sturgeon, which Idaho’s commercial fish farmers have been trying--as yet unsuccessfully--to raise. Trout fanciers can dine on trout fixed a dozen ways: poached, fried, stuffed, in trout burgers and salads.

Sept. 1-6, 1993. LODGING: Canyon Springs Inn (Best Western), $57-$60, (208) 734-5000 or (800) 528-1234. INFORMATION: (208) 326-4396.

WHITE COUNTY FAIR

Searcy, Ark.

A community fair staged by volunteers, the White County Fair in Searcy, 58 miles northeast of Little Rock, typifies the pioneer spirit that built this state. A half-dozen exhibit buildings on 65 acres showcase cattle and swine, horses and ponies, farm and home equipment, flowers and vegetables.

Canning and pickling is also an art, a legacy from the area’s settlers, whose recipes are still used for canning home-grown corn, peas, beans, tomatoes and peaches. Table grapes, a more recent commercial crop, make an appearance as jams, jellies and preserves.

Pioneer Village, a collection of 1890s cabins brought to the site, re-creates wilderness life. A one-room log cabin with an overhead loft is furnished with rough chairs and beds; a one-room schoolhouse, jail and barn are adjacent.

Saturday night features a bang-’em-up demolition derby. Gospel music shows, country and Western, a Miss White County Queen pageant, Ferris wheel rides and calf-chasing competitions for kids round out the fun.

Sept. 13-18, 1993. LODGING: Kings Inn, $40, (501) 268-6171. INFORMATION: (501) 268-8331.

TUNBRIDGE WORLD’S FAIR

Orange County, Vt.

Big time country singers are the top acts here in Tunbridge, population 954, but not for my money. Ox-pulling contests, tobacco spitting and a maple-sugaring demonstration are three of the old-time events that fascinated us--and 40,000 other visitors--in this wooded New England valley, 25 miles south of Montpelier.

The 120-year-old fair, on 64 grassy acres, has its roots in Colonial America. Ox-pulling was how pioneers originally cleared their fields, using oxen and “stoneboats” (flat, wooden sleds) to haul rocks. Maple syrup-making, actually a springtime activity, is replicated in an authentic “sugar house,” with maple-flavored boiling water. The genuine article is sold as syrup, candy and in milkshakes.

Sept. 16-19, 1993. LODGING: The Three Stallion Inn (in Randolph), $60-$75 for a standard double, (802) 728-5575. INFORMATION: (802) 889-3489 or (802) 889-3300.

ROCKINGHAM COUNTY FAIR

Harrisonburg, Va.

I didn’t know it when I lived in Virginia’s Shenandoah River Valley, but during the Civil War it was the Confederacy’s “bread basket,” where local farmers raised the wheat and vegetables that fed the South. Virginia’s population has quadrupled since then but the valley is as rural as I remember it, producing both grain and livestock, the best of which is shown at the Rockingham County Fair in Harrisonburg, 105 miles northwest of Richmond.

Virginians, who love draft horses, enter their Clydesdales and Percherons in weight-pulling and hitching classes. A spinoff game, horseshoe pitching, is fiercely competitive and heavily attended, with the winners advancing to the state fair.

Local specialties are quince and crab apple jellies, gingerbread, peanut brittle, canned huckleberries and sauerkraut. Monster tractor pulls, a demolition derby, carnival rides, an antique auto show, a Saturday flea market and two country and Western concerts complete the schedule.

Aug. 16-21, 1993. LODGING: The Village Inn, $38-$48, (800) 736-7355. INFORMATION: (703) 434-0005.

BLOOMSBURG COUNTY FAIR

Columbia County, Pa.

The Bloomsburg Fair, on 234 acres in the cornfields of eastern Pennsylvania (a mile off Interstate 80 off Exit 34) has grown over the years; 92,000 daily visitors like it big, and though it broke our rule, it was too good to leave off the list.

Hundreds of livestock and farm exhibits fill 54 buildings. Daily events include harness racing, monster tractor pulls, continuous entertainment on two stages and 1,000 food stalls. Local taste treats are buckwheat pancakes with sausage and pirogi, pastry turnovers with potato-onion filling.

Grandstand evening shows headline performers like Billy Ray Cyrus, Kenny Rogers, Ricky Van Shelton, George Jones and Anne Murray. (Tickets available by mail.) Free daytime acts include dog and animal acts, magicians, jugglers, comics, regional high school bands and local singers.

Adult and youth exhibits feature cattle, swine, sheep, horses, pigs, ducks, rabbits and chickens; the winners advance to the state fair finals. A huge carnival and midway have hundreds of fun rides.

Sept. 25-Oct. 2, 1993. LODGING: Magee’s Main Street Inn, $56-$78, (717) 784-3200. INFORMATION: (717) 784-4949.

CLAY COUNTY FAIR

Spencer, Iowa

Though Clay County, Iowa, has only 18,000 residents, the county fair has a paid gate admission of 260,000 visitors. The reason is that this fair is for working farmers, folks from the surrounding region who use computers as often as combines. A huge agribusiness show includes more than 400 commercial exhibitors displaying state-of-the-art equipment: tractors, milking machines, feed elevators, refrigerators and computers--all modern farm essentials.

But canned vegetables, jams, jellies and flowers are here too, along with paintings, quilts, textiles, cattle, sheep, chickens and pigs. After all, Iowa is still the nation’s No. 1 hog-producing state.

Top-drawer entertainment includes the 150-lap Enduro Car Race, Wing Sprint auto races, harness racing on two afternoons, two evenings of monster tractor pulls, a professional rodeo and a traditional chuck wagon race. Weekend country music features Willie Nelson, Wynonna Judd, Chris LeDoux and Doug Stone.

Sept. 11-18, 1993. LODGING: The Hotel, $25-$67, (712) 262-2010. INFORMATION: (712) 262-4740 .

MERCER COUNTY FAIR

Harrodsburg, Ky.

When the Mercer County Fair and Horse Show started in 1827, folks in town still remembered the day Daniel Boone rode through town on a handsome mount. Pioneer days are but a memory, but horseflesh is still No. 1 in Harrodsburg, 33 miles southwest of Lexington in the Bluegrass country.

No matter that the Shriners stage a parade on opening day. Or that dairy exhibits include the finest shampooed and air-fluffed Holstein, Guernsey and Jersey cows. Or that flower growers display 1,400 entries: roses, zinnias, gladioli and lilies. The nightly horse show is the main event, with classes for three-gaited and five-gaited saddle horses, for Arabians, hackney and harness ponies, for juniors and seniors and more. Woe betide the judge who errs; the spectators know their horseflesh.

Otherwise, the fair reflects Kentucky’s rural bent, with livestock exhibits and 4-H projects, Ferris wheels and bumper cars, quilts and pickles. Area service clubs sell homemade delights--country ham, smoked ribs and derby pie (gooey pecans and chocolate). Held the last full week of July, before the tobacco harvest.

July 26-31, 1993. LODGING: The Beaumont Inn, $70-$90, (606) 734-3381. INFORMATION: (606) 734-3686.