Thankfully the weather held out Saturday afternoon as Ross and I headed to the Lyon County Fair. I went toward the 9/11 Never Forget exhibit, which was seeing a good crowd. Parents were pointing out to their kids the different photos and stories. I spent time looking at the items from the New York City fire stations that responded to the terror attacks. It’s hard to believe that it’s been almost 16 years since 9/11.

There were so many food choices at the fair, from the Holy Redeemer and 4-H food stands, to the vendors to the midway. We ended up at the 4-H stand with a couple of pops from the VFW beer garden. Then came our gradual tour of the exhibit buildings, starting with the 4-H general projects. I like seeing what the kids come up with, from furniture to decorative items to cool projects and photography. It almost makes me wish I had been in 4-H as a kid.

The open class building was the next stop. Again, I’m amazed at the talent of folks. There’s floral arrangements, food, photography, artwork, crafts, quilts and other handiwork. I just wish I was a little more crafty and had a lot more patience to create something.

As we were walking toward the Ralco Enrichment Center, we stumbled upon the Lego building contest. It just happened to be during the judging as we were checking out the entries, hoped no one thought we were judges. There was also a sign by a plant that said something to the effect of “smell me.” I was like “I’m not smelling a plant.” I mean, what if it’s a stinky one? But then I got up close and managed to get a snootful of the plant. It was kind of citrusy.

In the Ralco Enrichment Center, we saw the litter of piglets, the calves, goats and the cute little rabbits. One of the volunteers had the baby rabbits out, so I petted the bunny’s head. Oh, so soft.

I suggested getting a chocolate-strawberry mix for a malt for us to share as we went toward the animal barns. Yay, more fair food! I always like looking at the rabbits. They’re cute, there are different kinds and there’s plenty to look at.

For some reason, I had an overwhelming desire to ride on the merry-go-round. Maybe I wanted to relive my childhood, or maybe I just wanted to go on a ride that wasn’t going to jostle my stomach. I bought enough tickets for me and Ross to go on the ride. We were told we had to ride in the bench, so no carousel horse for me (or a cat with a fish in its mouth, that was one of the carousel animals). We made the most of it.

We had exhausted all that we wanted to see at the fair, so we left. The day ended with a walk, followed by Papa Murphy’s pizza.

For years, I’ve seen ads and such for the Czech Fest in Bechyn. Being half-Czech, I’ve always wondered what it’s all about. So we’re heading outside of Redwood Falls Sunday, looking for any sign that pointed toward Bechyn. We located the banner advertising the event. We find the church, which seems in the middle of nowhere. There were plenty of people already there at 1:30 p.m. Polka music filled the air, as a concertina band was playing in one area, and another band from North Dakota played old-timey music in another area. Folk dancers were to perform at 2:30, which I unfortunately missed.

The festival has been going on for more than 25 years after the church closed. People have been working to preserve the historic church, which is beautiful on the inside. There was a traveling exhibit in front of the altar, which told about the relationship between President Woodrow Wilson and Czech leader Thomá G. Masaryk.

Being from Marshall and since this was the first time I’ve ever attended the event, I felt somewhat out of place as I’m sure most of the people there had either attended the church back in the day, have family in the area, or have gone to Czech Fest year after year. I did recognize a handful of folks though.

When we went through the line to get food, the woman in front of me was asking about kolaches. Basically they’re a pastry with fruit. Apparently the kolaches go fast at Czech Fest, so the woman was told they were out. But then a guy said there was still a bag of poppy seed kolaches left and pulls them out. These kolaches were made a little differently than what I’ve seen; I’m used to ones made by my late aunt Mary Anne. Hers were a pastry with an indentation in the middle, which is filled with fruit, like prune, poppy seed or raspberry. The one we had at Czech Fest was like a coffee cake in a way, but still good.

The event included a silent auction, games (one such game that involved betting on what color block a mouse went in the hole), souvenirs and raffles. We also looked through the cemetery, noting some of the names.

Thunder started to rumble and then the sky opened up and it started to pour. That’s when Ross and I ducked into the church. We hung out there for a while to wait out the rain. After the rain slowed, I took a closer look at some of the T-shirts and sweatshirts and other souvenirs. There were shirts from past years, but several were too big. I eventually settled on a sweatshirt. Then I saw a baseball cap with the words “Czech chick” on it. Definitely had to get that.