You are coming to the Fair?!
The theme for the 2012 Marin County Fair is Always Fresh, Fun & Local. This will be a wonderful celebration of Marin agriculture’s past, present and future. The Grown In Marin exhibit will combine fascinating historical artifacts with entertaining hands-on projects. You won’t want to miss any of it.
Marin’s Agrarian Roots - Many of the innovations and advances Marin’s farmers and ranchers made for herd health, increased butter fat in milk, and pasture management, began in the early part of the 19th century. M.B. Boissevain, Marin’s first University of California Cooperative Extension Advisor, was instrumental in facilitating these improvements. Fortunately, he documented these changes in large format photographs which will premiere at the fair in the exhibit Marin’s Agrarian Roots.
Farm Films – Hidden Bounty of Marin brings the lives and work of nine farm families and one cheese maker to the screen, sharing their commitment and passion to the tradition of producing local food for their community. A Simple Question: the Story of Straw chronicles the efforts of Students and Teachers Restoring a Watershed in collaboration with Marin farmers and ranchers to restore streams and creeks and save endangered species.
Historical Marin Agriculture – The first pioneers arrived to homestead in the mid 1800s. Enjoy historic Marin agricultural items such as milk bottles, butter churns and other items as wells an interactive timeline of Marin history and oral histories of Marinites hosted by the Marin History Museum.
All the Buzz – Find out about raising happier, healthier bees and learn about their importance as pollinators for agriculture. The Marin County Beekeepers will share all there is to keeping bees.
Agricultural History Games – The Marin County Free Library and its resources from the Anne T. Kent California Room will have two games for fairgoers: I Spy a Farm in Marin using the 1937 Marvelous Marin map for a fun seek-and-find game; and Marvelous Marin: Our Agricultural Heritage challenging participants at three levels of difficulty to match historical photographs with their geographic locations.
Photographs of West Marin Farmers and Ranchers – Renowned photographer Art Rogers will have on display images from his 37 years of documenting Marin’s farm families including selections from his series “Yesterday and Today.”
Clo’s Bilboards – We have all had our days brightened with the colorful and punny billboards from Clover Stornetta Farms. Well Clo will be on display in her numerous roles through a premiere of Clover Stornetta Poster Art.
Marin’s Farms and Ranches – The Marin Agricultural Land Trust and Marin Organic are teaming up to tell the story and share locations of Marin’s farms and ranches that conserved through agricultural easements and that have transitioned to organic. Enjoy maps, facts and figures, and interacting with staff to learn about farmers and ranchers commitment to stewardship and organic production.
Meet Marin Ranchers and Farmers - Everyday from 3:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. there will be five of Marin’s Farmers and Ranchers on hand for you to meet and talk with. They will share their family stories and be talk about their farms and ranches.
Blue Ribbon Stage – In addition to meeting farmers and ranchers, there will be a series of presentations from each evening at 7:00 p.m. by local cheesemakers on the Blue Ribbon Stage. Additionally, in the “Made in Marin” demonstration series there will be presentation on baking, preserving, and natural dyes among other topics. This will be your chance to learn about these great local products and get know-how for making your own.
Text adapted from Summer 2012 Marin Center Magazine