Governor's Day

This past week has been filled with events. I will try and keep things brief but Governor's Day alone had so much going on! It was this past Thursday at the Delaware State Fair that Governor Jack Markell and I began our day-long journey. We took a tour of some exhibits presented by FFA and 4-H dealing with agriculture and science. We then went to participate in some of the FFA games being held outside. The first one was the Egg Toss. The Governor and I teamed up for the challenge. With each successful toss we had to take a step back. One by one teams were dropping their eggs. It came down to us and another team....we were a good couple yards away...I threw the egg up high with all my might and Governor Markell caught it while the other team dropped theirs!!!! We won!!! It had been years since the Governor and Miss DE won the egg toss. I must give a lot of credit to Governor Markell for catching my crazy throws though. The rest of the day we bragged to everyone about our success.

Before the FFA and 4-H displays I was able to witness the Governor sign the last bill associated with the late Senator Thurman Adams. His two daughters spoke as well as a few friends including Representative Bob Walls. It was a touching experience to say the least.

We continued the day by going to present the bill Senator Darryl Scott and a class from Saint John Lutheran's Elementary School created to signify that the new state dessert is the Peach Pie! It was adorable to see the class standing behind the Governor as he signed each letter of his name with a different pen so that he could hand them out to the students. He wanted them to feel a part of the process the whole way through. I made sure to snag myself a sample of the peach pie they were handing out in celebration...it was delicious!

We then went to present awards to a few first places winners of the various contests within the fair. The awards went to winners for the best quilt to the biggest and best pumpkin and everywhere in between.

I then went to ride some carnival rides and look around at the grandstand vendors while the Governor spoke on the phone with Vice President Joe Biden. It was nice to have some down time before the dinner that evening. I changed and went back up to the grandstand to begin a wonderful and tasty dinner. The Governor's Dinner was sponsored by Blue Cross Blue Shield and they gave each guest a gift that was a glass paper weight with Senator Thurman Adams portrait and name laser etched inside. It is very beautiful, even though I did not describe it too well.

Photo By: Dave Chambers

The dinner was excellent! We had salad with rasberry vinagrette, chicken breast with crab cake, asparagus, and rizzoto, and for dessert we had cheesecake! After all of that great food, and a full stomach, I went to sing two songs for everyone. I sang Crazy by Patsy Cline and Bless the Broken Road by Rascal Flatts. It was an honor to entertain everyone with a couple country songs in honor of the fair. After that we commemorated the 90th Anniversary of the State Fair and honored the military men and women that were present.

Leroy Betts, President of Delaware State Fair, and I

By this time, both Kenney Workman, my traveling companion for the day, and I were exhausted. It was hot and we had been busy all day. So when dinner was completed and the announcements were finished we decided to head home. It was a great day despite how tired I was the next morning! I cannot thank Kenney enough for being there all day with me to carry my bags and take pictures so that I could share the day with you. I also want to thank Governor Markell and his staff for including me in the events throughout the day and being a wonderful group to share it with. I was able to meet Lt. Governor Matt Denn as well, and it was a pleasure getting to know him a little bit more at the Governor's Cup horse race we attended that day (that was my first horse race ever!). Last but not least, I want to thank the Delaware State Fair staff and volunteers for being such gracious hosts all week and for making the day as wonderful as it was.