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    Willow Seely, of Eureka, joined the Hat Day competition again this year and won the Funniest or Most Outrageous category with her “Cat in the Hat.” She also finished runner-up for the People’s Choice Award.
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    Kim Hackett, of Carlotta, loaded up her “127 years” hat with Fair-related items to win the Best Racing Theme category.
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    With a goal of winning the Best Group category, these “Talk Derby to Me” group members warmed up for a photo opp soon after arrival at the racetrack (from left, Stacia Weener, Jamie Kurowski, Heather Cooke, Katie Couch and Alisha Czech).
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    Alijah (left) and Meadow Sokolowski, of Arcata, teamed up with matching rainbow unicorn hats.
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    It was margaritaville time for Johanna Nagan (left) and Heather Ulrey, of Arcata.
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    Emily Buckwalter, of Arcata, teamed up with her daughter Josephine in feathered hats while husband Patrick provided support.
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    This flower-based head covering by Petra Taylor, of McKinleyville, qualified for the Hat Day contest.
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    Regular Hat Day participant Carolyn Polasek (right), of Ferndale, convinced her sister Elle Green, also of Ferndale, to join her for the first time in this year’s event.
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    Karen Isbell, of Auburn and a long-time participant in the Best Racing Theme hat category, decided to switch it up this year and compete in the Outrageous category.
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    Members of the “WINGS Women of the Ingomar” Hat Day group joined other railbirds to watch the finish of this horse race on Saturday.
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    Susan Santsche, holding the sign and spokesperson for “WINGS Women of the Ingomar,” helped organize a photo of the group members (all from Eureka) after one of the races.
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    Hat Day competitor Beth Ghidinelli had a nesting waterfowl in her head-cover creation.
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    These two matching-hat wearers moved out onto the track for the Ladies Hat Day judging moment after the fourth race.
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    Participants in all categories of the Ladies Hat Day competition lined up on the race track after the fourth race for judging. The winners in each category were brought out after the fifth race for the People’s Choice Award judging based on audience applause.
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    Natalie Goltz and Patrick Sproul, winners of the Best Couple category in their first ever Hat Day, were grateful for the cool marine layer on Saturday, given their black apparel.
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    “Talk Derby to Me” group members waved to the crowd after they won the Best Group category (from left, Heather Cooke, Jamie Kurowski, Alisha Czech, Stacia Weener and Katie Couch).
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    Carolyn Polasek, of Ferndale, returned to successfully defend her first-place win in Most Glamorous with a huge stylish hat and full-length white dress with black trim. She then won back-to-back People’s Choice Award as well.
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    As for horse racing on Hat Day, Pete Estabrook, of Santa Rosa, was back to play the traditional bugle “First Call” to bring horses to the starting gate at Saturday’s races.
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    Photographing horse racing at Saturday’s Humboldt County Fair is always a fun photography challenge; in this case, panning the camera lens handheld with the horses’ motion at 1/8th of a second shutter speed blurred the distracting background to help show the incredible speed and power of these beautiful horses.
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    Meanwhile, Gianna Regli, of Ferndale, took a well-deserved afternoon rest break with “Bruce Wayne,” her 4-H Reserve Champion market hog, to prepare for the animal round-robin events later on Saturday (extreme wide-angle lens causing some distortion).
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    Blair Shinn, of Ferndale, had just returned his pregnant Supreme Grand Champion Holstein to its stall in the Dairy Barn after Saturday’s Dairy Heifer Auction (where it sold for $4,000) when it gave birth to a calf in front of a large crowd. All of the heifers in the auction were pregnant and remain eligible if they give birth at the Fair.
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    Over in the Covered Arena, Ferndale 4-H participant Alexandra Griffith (right) followed up her competition display of onions with a Jim Gupton Veggie Auction basket filled with onions, potatoes, an apron, pot holders, tea towels, blueberry lemon muffins, fresh herbs, eggs, home-make Italian sausage and cooking utensils.
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    Each day of the Fair these rescue dogs were fast out of the racetrack gate, as they have been gently trained to race with the lure of melted ice cream and a cookie waiting at the finish line.
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    These pot-bellied pigs were also fast out of the gate and trained to race … with a tasty treat waiting at the end of the race track for them as well.
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    On one of the non-traditional carnival-ride attractions, Jenne Phillips showed off her no-hands mechanical bull-riding skills at a venue owned and operated by Cheri Phillips, her mother, of Crescent City. Jenne said she uses her horse-riding experience and watches between the bull’s horns to avoid getting thrown.
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    A “Scary Fieri” blue ribbon-winning scarecrow by Lori Sue Gregg of Carlotta was found in the plants/garden/flower exhibit hall. The real Fieri was seen at the fair’s chili cook-off and at the racetrack on Saturday.