Jul 25, 2025 By Garrett Neese 3 min read

The food booths were still being set up and the midway was empty aside from the occasional staff cart Thursday morning, but Haddie Rechenberg had already achieved a personal first at the Fayette County Fair.

Rechenberg, 8, of Connellsville competed for the first time with her horse, Justice, at the fair’s 4-H Horse and Pony Show. She’s been riding for two years, but is making her fair debut.

Haddie started riding after her sister got into it.

She admitted to some nerves Thursday, but said it was “fun.”

“I absolutely love it,” said her mother, Nicole Rechenberg, Haddie’s mother. “It’s a whole new world for me. It’s a little scary for me. She absolutely loves it.”

Thursday morning was 4-H’s Cloverbud trail riding competition, in which the rider guided their horse in a pattern through a gate and to fixed locations around the arena.

Haddie’s one quibble: She didn’t get to lope. That’s saved for Saturday, when she gets to barrel race in the open show.

How fast does she intend to go?

“Really fast,” Haddie said.

Haddie is pretty independent, Nicole said, watching her daughter put away Justice’s reins and saddle. But she’s enjoyed getting to help out with the 4-H program where she can.

“They’ve taught me so much, and it’s something we can enjoy together,” she said. “It’s not just about the food and the rides anymore. It’s about the horses.”

Not that they entirely forego the food and the rides. Haddie likes “the fries with cheese.”

“And malt vinegar,” Nicole added.

Across the fairgrounds, Valarie Weible of The Steel Plate was putting her art-teacher skills to use writing up the menu for the Monessen restaurant’s booth.

The mostly gluten-free menu included chicken lollipops, stuffed pineapples and a heavy dose of pickles — from dill-pickle sandwiches to pickle slushies, which were still getting chilled Thursday morning.

The Steel Plate’s is back for its second year at the fair. Owner Russell Johnson didn’t have exact numbers of customers from last year, but said he had been “thoroughly impressed” by the turnout. He attributed the numbers to being able to provide lighter, restaurant-quality food.

“There were definitely multiple nights we had lines,” he said.

Staff members Owen Shimshock of Uniontown and Aaron Milne of Brownsville had already spent four days helping to get things set up, whether fetching cables and taking out the garbage.

It was Milne’s first time on the fair staff. He’d been recruited by Shimshock, who is working at the fair for the third time.

“It makes you feel good,” Shimshock said. “You’re helping people. When they want something done, you do it.”