10/04/2026
As the dust in the barn settles and the last trailers have headed home, I find myself reflecting on what an incredible week it was at the Bloomsburg Fair. 🐮🥛❤️🥛🐮
For many of us, the fair is so much more than one week in September. It represents an entire year of early mornings, long days, calving cows, feeding, breeding, clipping, training, hauling, and doing all the little things that most people never see. The animals that walk into that show ring have had countless hours of work, care, and dedication poured into them long before they ever arrive at the fair.
And then there’s the people.
Our Bloomsburg Fair family is something incredibly special. Many of the families we spend the week alongside have been exhibiting livestock here for generations—some for 8 or 9 generations! These traditions, friendships, and memories are being passed down from one generation to the next, and I feel incredibly fortunate to be a small part of it.
The Mapes family has been exhibiting at the Bloomsburg Fair for more than 30 years, and this year was another one for the books. ❤️
It was our 4th year selling our own milk and cheese at the fair, and we were absolutely blown away by the support. We had customers waiting for us before we even got the cows in the barn! We sold out of the nearly 2,000 bottles of milk that we produced right here on our farm!🥛🧀
We were also incredibly proud to bring home Grand Champion Brown Swiss with Paige, our 5-year-old cow who was brand new to our show string this year. What a special surprise and an incredible way to welcome her to our show string! 🏆🤎
And then there were all of the unexpected moments that made this fair even more memorable. We had the opportunity to do two television interviews, and we were able to share a live birth of a calf right here on Facebook. 🐄❤️
The response to that birth was something I’ll never forget. Fairgoers stopped us throughout the week to tell us they had watched it happen live on Facebook. It was such a cool reminder that what feels like an ordinary moment here on the farm can be something incredibly special to someone who has never experienced it.
So as the dust settles, the barns get quiet, and we all start thinking about next year, I’m feeling incredibly grateful.
Grateful for our cows.
Grateful for our customers.
Grateful for our families.
Grateful for the generations of livestock exhibitors who keep these traditions alive.
And most of all, grateful for the people who make Bloomsburg feel like home.
It was a great week—one filled with hard work, big accomplishments, new memories, and a whole lot of reasons to be proud. ❤️
Until next year, Bloomsburg. We’ll be counting down. 🐮💗🐮
