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If someone rewrote the classic song "Home on the Range" to fit the Webster County Fair, it would have to include a few lines about tents getting rained out, running out of clean clothes and longing for the shower at home.

It would also have to include several verses about the strong sense of community, bonding with friends and family and the good time enjoyed by those who for the duration of the fair make it home.

Kathy Nelson and her husband Tom are sharing a camper with their three children, Mackenzie 12, TJ 10 and Kelsey, 7. All except the youngest are involved in various 4-H projects.

While they have most of the creature comforts of home such as running water and air conditioning, television isn't on the list.

"That's fine with me," Kathy Nelson said.

There's still plenty of things to do without it. They attend the children's various 4-H events, look around the fair, watch the animal shows and when not busy in the evening, enjoy cooking out.

"That's one of my favorites," Tom Nelson said.

The only hardship the Nelsons has had to endure so far was due to the mud from the frequent rains during the week. The family ran out of clean clothes.

A trip to a self-serve laundry in town solved that problem along with relatives who took clothes home and washed them. Several pairs of pants were drying on hangers outside the camper.

"Everybody helps each other out," Kathy Nelson said.

The camper did get a little crowded for a few days. The tent several of the children were staying in was taken down after a heavy rain. They moved in out of the damp.

Jeanine Lowry, of Somers, is a 4-H project leader also spending the week at the fair living in a camper. She doesn't consider it crowded.

"There's just six people," she said. "Besides me."

She enjoys the sense of community found among the other temporary residents too.

"Everybody acts like a big family," she said.

Kellie Welter, of Gowrie, is staying at the fair with her family for the first time. In previous years, they commuted back and forth several times a day to sleep, shower, change clothes and do chores on the family farm. This year, her husband Gary is doing the chores and the commuting.

Welter explained that the only downside seems to be not getting enough sleep, most nights are late ones and the mornings come early.

There are several things she's enjoying about staying at the fair.

"The children can nap and get in the air conditioning a little," she said. "You get to relax and take in parts of the fair you couldn't before."

She is also happy that being on the grounds lets her children have time to get to know their friends better.

"We're all bonding with different people now," she said.

While everyone seems to be enjoying the experience of staying at the fair, thoughts do turn to returning home eventually.

Welter already has plans for her return.

"I'm gonna take a bath," she said, "and a nap ... and laundry."

Contact Hans Madsen at (515) 573-2141 or hmadsen@messengernews.net