A Trip to the Sandwich Fair, October 2025

Last month I took my family to the Sandwich Fair. Being a city boy, I had never been to a county fair before. I would describe it as a huge carnival with an expansive side of animals for show. But we had a blast. (Thank you, Kurt, for the recommendation). Late in the day, as my wife and son were occupied with a
coloring book, I decided to engage in one of my favorite past times: people
watching. And as I gazed at the throngs of people walking by, two thoughts came to mind.

First, I thought of all the people I have met in my life who were raised on a farm (but when I met them, they were in some endeavor not related to farming).  What struck me about them is the fact that they were all very successful in their profession, which totally debunks the “country bumpkin” stereotype. I wondered what the cause of their excellence might be. As I looked around at the fair, it
dawned on me. Growing up on a farm entails hard work and discipline; there’s no lying around on the couch playing video games. You also have to learn to work with others as many chores cannot be done alone. And you have to figure out how to solve problems, whether opening a stuck gate, or tearing down and rebuilding a complicated piece of machinery. And all these skills are transferable
throughout life, which I believe contribute to one’s success.

Then I thought of something else. If you’ve followed the news at all these past few years, you would recall many doom and gloom stories that humanity is fading. Birth rates have plummeted around the globe to the point where many countries, including the U.S., are below their replacement levels, signaling the eventual extinction of the human race. But wait. If that is true, why am I seeing at
this fair all these young mothers and parents pushing strollers with two, three, even four kids in tow? And I don’t mean a few; I mean hundreds of young families. There was no dearth of new life here. So, these two observations caused me to pause and ask, “Why is God apparently blessing rural America in ways that other parts of the country do not experience?” Could it be that these folks, who work so hard with very little recognition or compensation, carry out a most critical function, feeding us? Could it be that rural America has a much higher percentage church attendance rate than urban and suburban areas? Could it be that rural America has not fallen into the hateful, backbiting vitriol that blankets many cities and suburbs today? I suppose it could be any or all of them. What I do know is that we had a wonderful time at the fair.
God bless America!

AMEN