When the air turns steamy and the days grow long, people get an urge to abscond from the mundanities and trials of everyday life and to go off in search of fun. One of Americans’ favorite summertime great escapes is the county fair, an otherworldly place brimming with scents of popcorn, funnel cake, and candy apples, sounds of shrieks and laughter, and colorful, fantastic sights that dazzle the eyes.

The Cecil County Fair in Elkton is one the biggest, grandest great escapes around. People come from near and far to attend this fair, and they have so much fun at it, a lot of them do not want to leave. They plum forget they have cares and routines to attend to back home.

Thus, over the years, the organizers of the fair have had to make the event last longer and longer. This year it is going to last a whole nine days, from July 19 through July 27. And more than a few attendees are going to stay the entire time, smiling all the while, seduced by the enticements and joys the carnival continuously offers them.

The Cecil County Fair provides much that is to be expected from a summertime festival. It has roller coasters, whips, and Ferris wheels galore. And it has the unique treats only carnies know how to make, like butter-dipped Oreos and butter-dipped Twinkies.

The fair also showcases some extraordinary spectacles, the likes of which fairgoers will probably never see again and will leave them wondering if they only dreamt them. These shows include aerial performances, cowboy circuses, glass blowers, chainsaw artisans, tractor pulls, a demolition derby, and much more. A variety of music plays throughout the fair too, including classic rock, pop rock, Southern rock, country, and gospel.

A lot of people say the fairest fare of the fair is the 4-H exhibits. The presentations from this organization run the gamut of every ilk and fancy. The 4-H clubs offer farm show exhibits, like poultry, goat fitting (a beauty contest for goats and their exhibitors), dairy animals, horse jumping, a western horse show, and a livestock sale on the last day of the fair. 4-H also has a welding event, a fashion review (the participants design, sew, and model their clothing creations), an ATV event, a small engine event, a farm tractor safety presentation, and a dog and pet show.

The reason 4-H’s offerings are so varied is because the organization caters to young people and its mission is to help them become productive in whatever project they seek to pursue. Most of the projects fall into the categories of agriculture, science, healthy living, and civic engagement. The youths work year-long on their chosen projects, and the Cecil County Fair is their opportunity to not only show off what they have accomplished, it is a chance for them to earn trophies and other awards.

Susan Sprout Knight, who runs the advertising for the Cecil County Fair, grew up in 4-H, and today, she continues her involvement through volunteering and mentoring youth. She voices high praise for the organization and for the skills it enabled her to acquire and the values it instilled in her.

She explained how the 4-H projects work. “When I was young and a 4-H member, my project was gardening,” she said. “The organization provided me with a whole bunch of tools and people to help me successfully learn gardening skills. Eventually, I was skilled enough to compete in horticultural events, and 4-H enabled me to travel throughout the country to participate in them.”

Susan described a bit about what it takes to enter the events at Cecil County Fair. “Someone’s project might be cow showing, for instance. That means they either have their own cow or they lease one or they care for another community member’s cow. Throughout the 4-H member’s project, they learn how to properly care for a cow, they learn to feed it and to keep it clean and healthy. Once they have developed a prize specimen cow, they get to show off it and all their hard work at the fair.”

She continued, “Throughout the project, the 4-H’er is picking up all kinds of skills. First, they learn about community because there is this whole great community of people willing to donate time and resources to helping them become successful in their 4-H project. They learn how to keep records of their project, and these are sometimes supplied to judges at the fair. They learn time management, financial management, and even public speaking, because many fair events require the 4-H’er to orally present their project.”

The 4-H organization was started over 100 years ago, and it has become the nation’s largest youth development organization. Its symbol is 4 H’s that stand for head, heart, hands, and health because these are the areas the organization is trying to enhance in young people. The Cecil County Fair has a long tradition of promoting and rewarding 4-H participants.

Like all fairs, the Cecil County Fair pops up seemingly out of thin air. It disperses its magic and splendor for but a bit of the summer, and then it disappears. What it leaves behind is happy memories that live within the people who visited it. And that is what summer is about, escaping to a place where happy memories can be cultivated and then held onto forever.