Alleghany County Agricultural Fair was held last week at the Justice Carlisle Higgins Agricultural Fairgrounds. In the photo above, (from left) Grayson Poole, Myra Scott and Garrett Higgins enjoy a ride on one of the midway attractions, a little train. In the photo below left, Barry Shatley holds son Caleb over a rail to pet a donkey in the fair's petting zoo. The fair officially got under way last Monday with livestock shows and items being accepted for the exhibition building, while the midway rides didn't begin until last Thursday. The event culminated last Saturday night with a lawnmower race and fireworks show.

Alleghany Fair draws about 4,000

The Alleghany County Fair saw a three-night attendance of approximately 4,000 this year.

The fair began Monday with the accepting of entries at the Emerson Black Exhibition Building and livestock shows that continued throughout the week, ending Saturday afternoon with the Alleghany County and Northwest district dairy show.

Comparing this year's exhibition building entries, numbers were down when compared to last year, according to Amy Lucas, fair committee chair. While quantity was down, "quality was wonderful," she said, adding, "We were just hoping for more entries."

The fair's carnival rides began on Thursday night and continued through Saturday night. Of the midway rides and games, Lucas remarked, "We had a lot of kids out there. The rain cut Thursday activities short, but Friday and Saturday were both great turnouts. We tried to have something for kids of all ages."