Every summer at the fair brings back great memories of elephant ears the size of my head to stomach-turning rides to great exhibits and shows.

I’ve been to the Hood River County Fair nearly every year since I was a kid; since back when I was too short to get on all the rides, too stubborn to give up trying and too excited to not spend three months of lawn mowing and hay bucking money on snowcones, cheap sunglasses and many of the very same carnival games that were there this year.