Five things to do this weekend: Read, watch and ride — then do it all again

Confession time: Some weeks I sit down to type this, and its easy to winnow the events down to five we find extra-fascinating. This is not such a week. Strap on your adventure shoes and pretend you don’t know how to count to five either.

Fairly speaking

Your county fair starts off with a few must-have’s — carnival rides, food and music — but then differentiates itself from other festivals by adding a parade and livestock and sometimes something called a “horse show” or “Hot Stock Tractor Pull.” (Fellow city kids? It’s where a big ole tractor pulls a weighted sled. The driver has to stay seated, which might get a little tricky, and the tractor must be equipped with a dead man’s throttle. You’ve got to see it.)

We’ve got two county fairs to choose from this weekend, but Madison and Randolph start up mid-week.

▪  Clinton County Fair continues in Carlyle. The queen pageant is at 2 p.m. Saturday at Mater Dei High School in Breese ($7 adults, $3 6-12 years old, younger than 6 free); and see the Power Wheels Demo, Autocross and Demolition Derby at 6:30 p.m. Saturday. Want to know more? Visit www.clintoncofair.org.

▪  Monroe County Fair starts Sunday and runs through July 26 at the fairgrounds in Waterloo. It features a junior class horse show on Sunday, along with a Kloepper Tournament. More details: www.monroecounty-fair.org.

Homecomings

It’s homecoming weekend in St. Jacob and New Athens with, you guessed it, rides and music and probably enough cotton candy to guarantee a sticky, colorful ride home. St. Jacob has a parade at 6 p.m. Saturday, and a “Bags” tournament at 11 a.m. Saturday (some of us have known that as a bean bag toss or cornhole).

New Athens meets at City Park under the water tower for food and carnival rides at 6 p.m. Saturday; Johnny Rock-Itt and the Doublewide Symphony play from 9 p.m. Saturday until 1 a.m. Sunday.

Quilt show

The ladies of St. Francis of Assisi — mostly named “Mary” it seems, the poor dears — are offering a special preview of their quilts this weekend, plus a viewing of the extra-special sesquicentennial quilt.

Those quilt colors aren’t painted on, no matter how your eye may be fooled. The show is from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday and Sunday at the Parish Center at Second and Clinton streets in Aviston. Every year, the quilt ladies diligently make quilts for bingo winners, and this weekend you can see prizes for the year. There are also quilting demonstrations, a raffle for a Candle Wicking quilt and more. There’s a $3 admission charge that registers you for an attendance prize. Go to www.stfrancisav.org for more about the parish.

Books

We do love a good book. (In brutal honesty, we love bad books, too. Perhaps even a little more than the “good” ones.) Which books they have for sale at the Collinsville and Troy libraries this weekend are for you to decide.

The Collinsville Friends of the Library are very nearly giving away books for $3 a bag from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday at the Collinsville Memorial Library at 408 W. Main St. And the Tri Township Library at 209 S. Main St. in Troy will have books, magazines, puzzles, games, DVDs and CDs at their Friends-sponsored sale from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.

Treasure hunt

Organizers may prefer the term “yard sale,” but we’re here for the goodies.

“The Power of One” yard sale at 11 Marlo Drive in Belleville, which starts at 6 a.m. both Saturday and Sunday, promises large furniture and small appliances amid the clothing and home decor. What price, you ask? You tell them. It’s a donation sale where you pay what you can or want, and everything raised is to go straight back into the community. The money raised will go toward their 501(c)(3) registration; they also sponsor local families struggling to pay for groceries, diapers, formula and clothes.

In Fairview Heights on Saturday, look for tables of yard-sale goodies in a climate-controlled environment of the VFW Post 8677 at 5325 N. Illinois St. The VFW will have hot dogs, chips and drinks for purchase.

This story was originally published July 17, 2015 at 10:11 AM with the headline "Five things to do this weekend: Read, watch and ride — then do it all again."