Taking the crown as Miss Trumbull County Fair this year, Ashlee Dietz seems the likely choice, as least by her family. They have, after all, been a part of the fair for 4 generations.
The family has been showing Guernsey cows for the past 62 years. That's something Ashlee says she's proud of. "I'm very happy to be a 4-H member and be able to carry on the tradition. I love showing Guernseys. It's my passion and I just love being here and the whole fair experience." According to Ashlee's aunt, Cindy Bates, who has been coming to the fair since she was 9 years old, part of that experience is the smell. "My love of the fair is the smell of the barns. I can remember my first year of 4-H. Just the smell of the animals, the smell of the barn, that's what I love."
So what does the second generation think? Ashlee's grandmother, Janet Bates, has been showing Guernseys since 1949, when she was just 10 years old. She says she doesn't know what she would do without the cows. "They love us. They talk to us. When you go into the barn, you talk to them and they moo, and they let us know they're happy we're there, and it's just so rewarding."
Guernseys aren't the only thing this family is into. Ashley's great-grandfather helped start a dairy barn at the fair more than 50 years ago, and it's been a fair favorite ever since.
Whether you come for the milkshakes or to share in a family tradition, Cindy says the fair keeps their family going strong. "Like my mom said, there are memories every year that are created that we see. It's just something that our family loves to do, and people don't always understand it, but I can't imagine a summer without it."
