Amidst construction and workers inside and outside of the Cache County Event Center trying to finish off the building, judges and staff were doing their best to get entries ready and judged and hung for the County Fair Thursday, Friday and Saturday, August 9-11.
Food, artwork and crafters were scatted all over the tables with judges hard at work doing their best to get the hall ready for the public.
While everyone was working the fire alarm went off for a few minutes stalling the progress of the people. Some people left and some stayed in and kept working.
Richard Pfaff of Riverdale, UT accepted the task of judging the 4-H food. He looked at home with the ribbons already placed on the plates. This wasn’t the first time for the former Bonneville High School teacher.
He has developed a process over the many years he’s been judging.
Unlike some who taste the food first then evaluating it, the former wood shop teacher said his process includes looking over the food closely first, and tasting is usually the last thing he does.
“I look at the texture, at the ingredients, the end product and then I break it and look at the texture inside. I do something else, I smell it then I taste it.”
He said everything is for the kids. He tries to understand their age and what they doing.
“You want to give them the best chance possible to be successful and not discourage them,” Pfaff said.
After the initial judging, he has to decide what ribbons to award the project. He considers if the entry is a blue ribbon or a red ribbon then if it is good enough to go to the State Fair. And then he considers if the entrée deserves a white participation ribbon.