Its Mountaineers on the Midway this week at the West Virginia State Fair.
A host of representatives from West Virginia University are in place at the fair, which wraps up Sunday (Aug. 20) at the Fairlea fairgrounds in Greenbrier County.
And fair-goers can take a little of WVU home with them.
As you begin your tour of the WVU Mountaineer Country Tent, pick up a WVU bag to hold your keepsakes. Then make your way by WVU displays featuring contest prizes, WVU Press books, WVU merchandise and free mementos.
If the arts are your bag, you will love the gifts the College of Creative Arts has waiting for you. Thefreebiesinclude art supplies, WVU Ceramics Studio pottery, CDs and Mountaineer Marching Band items from this years WVU band camp.
A fun-filled mystery challenge is waiting for inquisitive youngsters. They can test their information-finding skills by entering the treasure hunt organized by WVU Extension Service.
Each day, a different treasure hunt question sheet will be issued to Mountaineer Treasure Seekers. To answer the days respective questions, treasure seekers must visit booths in the WVU Mountaineer Country Tent, WVU Barns and Underwood 4-H Youth Building.
Contestants who complete the hunt are stamped with theFlying WVand their names are entered in a drawing for a chance to win pedometers and other health-related prizes.
While solving the treasure hunt mystery, kids may stop a moment to have their photos taken with Ernie the Skeleton, which is on leave from the WVU Health Science Center.
The Polaroid photo is another free memento young fair-goers may take home. The Health Science Center will also be handing out zipper-pulls and bookmarks loaded with health information.
After posing with Ernie, treasure seekers can be fingerprinted bysleuthsfrom the Eberly College of Arts and Sciences. The youths can add their fingerprint souvenirs to their WVU keepsake bags.
Treasure-seekersadventures will continue as they turn into coal miners and scientists at the booth developed by the National Research Center for Coal and Energy.
They can tempt their sweet tooth as they search for chocolate chipcoalin a cookie mine. Exchanging minerstools for scientistsgoggles, the youngsters can feed their science interests by using red cabbage juice to test the amount of acid in household products and stream water. Youths may keep their free cardboard goggles and instructions for home experiments.
As youngsters search for answers, adults can stay cool with the popularFlying
WVcardboard fan and pick up recipe cards for adding great taste to healthy diets and fact sheets for safely canning fruits and preserving tomatoes.
Adults will be pleased to find the latest WVU merchandise at the Zides Sporting
Goods market and browse through the WVU Press bookstore.
This is the first year the WVU Press will be providing fair-goers with the opportunity to purchase books written about West Virginia or by West Virginia authors. The books will be marked with a special State Fair price reduction.
The WVU Mountaineer Country Tent also will feature a free class where fair-goers who work with children will learn how building birdhouses can be a fun and educational experience. The one-hour class is being offered at 10:30 and 11:30 a.m. and at 1:30 and 3 p.m. Wednesday, Aug. 16, and Thursday, Aug. 17. Only two sessionsat 10:30 and 11:30 a.m.are scheduled for Friday, Aug. 18.
WVU Extended Learning, in cooperation with Woodcraft, developed the class primarily for elementary school educators, 4-H volunteers and other youth leaders. If you fall into one of those categories, register with Dave Winger ( Dave.Winger@mail.wvu.edu ). Plan to take your birdhouse home with you.
After leaving the WVU Mountaineer Country Tent, kids of all ages can travel across the decades with the WVU Jacksons MillHistory Hits the Roadwagon. The Conestoga wagon re-enacts 19th century Appalachian life by offering a variety of activities, including hands-on candle-dipping and paper-making demonstrations. When your trip ends, you may keep your 19th century treasures.
Cant get to the fair? Take an online trip to the WVU Mountaineer Country Tent via the WVU FairCam (www.wvu.edu/~exten/statefair/). The Web site also has links to the tents daily schedule and other events.