We offer attaboys to the 2011 Kitsap County Fair and Stampede for achieving the annual goal of the county’s fair under tough circumstances from leadership changes and troubled financial conditions.

Yes, the fair recycled the queen from last year after suffering from lost sponsorships in the months prior to the five-day festival, which also cut the rodeo and Xtreme Bulls prize money to get by. But when fair week finally came, the entry lines at gates were long.

The people of Kitsap County, and thousands of visitors from elsewhere also took in the stampede, the top-shelf country music performer and various local and regional performers – including Little Elvis. The 4-H livestock was judged and sold; competitions were held, and for nearly a week, the public had an opportunity to enjoy a perception of an older time in American life – the Kitsap County of the past.

For a few days the people of Kitsap County had reason to smile, and for a few hours an equal chance to forget the troubles faced by so many during the worst  economic times seen in most of their lives.

Across the fairgrounds, while making the enjoyable decisions between alligator on a stick or roast turkey legs,  the community broke bread together – though much of it was fried – and kept alive the tradition of gathering one week each year to share the progress and pitfalls of life in Kitsap County.