Huron County Fair Board President Bob Morgan approached me at the livestock sale this past Saturday morning with an inquisitive look.

"How many pictures have you taken this week?"

I hadn't thought about it much, so I didn't answer him right away. For a week of 14-hour work days, I had spent my time hitting the shutter button and then selecting, cropping, captioning, e-mailing and posting pictures on ReflectorCam into the early morning. But more than the quantity in question, what came to mind were the many people we had met and reconnected with during fair week.

I saw the determination of 2-year-old Gage Bernard of Willard as he worked putting sawdust in an unoccupied chicken cage. Gage, the son of Mark Bernard, poultry superintendent at the fair, is learning "the biz" well.

During the week, I saw Rose and Florian Brown of Plymouth sitting on a shady bench. We also ran into more friends from Plymouth, Tom and Joan Kanney, and their son, Paul, during the fair.

Not being able to hear clearly in a busy building, I honestly thought Caileigh Kropka had said "Huron County Monsters" when I asked her the name of her 4-H club. When I repeated it to her, she told me politely, but firmly, "No, Huron County HARVESTERS."

If a new 4-H club picks the name "Monsters" next year, remember you heard it here first.

On one trip down the midway, I was surprised to be recognized by Victor Los, the Russian economics student I had interviewed for a story last year, again working in a Kurtz Concessions trailer. He commented that the United States now has "even more stupid rules."

My thanks go out to the many folks I met when they gave me a ride on their golf cart or 'Gator. The distance from our camper to the front gate seemed much longer as the week, and the heat, wore on for this old man.

The week was too hot for a quilt, but my bride and I discussed them with Marilyn Long in the Heritage Barn on Friday. Marilyn told us about the vintage quilt, started in the 1920s, that was being completed to be auctioned next year. The next day, I was talking about more quilts with Virginia Lawrence, clothing and home furnishings superintendent, in what she calls the "Huron County Quilt Corner" in the Home Arts building, where she spends every day, from opening to closing, during the fair.

We saw Fitchville Township Trustee Joe Merilees so many places around the fairgrounds -- from his beekeepers corner in the Home Arts building to the Heritage Center to the Veteran's Pavilion -- that I told him I suspected there must be two of him. His wife countered with, "No, I think one is enough."

I admired the hard work of Tom Trimmer of Willard, organizer of the South Lot Golf Association, and Eric and Angela Timbs, who coordinated the South Lot Hog Roast. Both activities raise money that is spent at the Livestock Sales, helping young people who worked hard all year raising their animals.

One of our camper neighbors again this year was Scott Wheeler and his family from the Greenwich area. Scott had given us many tips on the ways of the South Lot several years ago when we first camped at the fair. We also ran into another of our neighbors from that first fair camping experience, Kim and Kimberly Ball, who have now moved north in the South Lot. It was nice to see the pride on their faces when they talked about their children participating in various livestock competitions and when their oldest daughter, Katherine, was competing in the Junior Fair king and queen contest.

Speaking of pride, this fair commentary wouldn't be complete without mentioning how wonderfully proud we are of our son, Ben, who completed his 4-H career at this year's fair. It was encouraging when he commented recently that he knows what he has learned in 4-H has already helped him with college and on his career journey.

I'll take this opportunity to apologize if I missed taking your picture or your name was misspelled or your hometown or 4-H club was misidentified in a caption. If there are other pictures you'd like to see, send me an e-mail with your ideas for next year's fair.

And to answer Bob's original question: I took 2,106 photos and 842 of them are posted on ReflectorCam.

Richard Russell is the Business Manager at the Norwalk Reflector. Contact him by e-mail at rrussell@norwalkreflector, or connect with him on Facebook at the "Official" Richard Russell Fan Page. His photos of fair week can be found at reflectorcam.norwalkreflector.com.