PRINEVILLE —

With about 24 hours left to go before the start of this year’s Crook County Fair, 10-year-olds Audrey Bernard and Corenne Schultz were already having fun at the fairgrounds Tuesday afternoon as they chatted excitedly about their plans for the four-day event while helping clean animal stalls.

The girls, both from Prineville, will enter fair animals — market lambs named Gunbo, Pistol and Shotgun — for the first time this year. After more than four months of feeding and caring for the animals, Audrey and Corenne said they’re ready to show off their hard work — and are hoping the judges will go easy on rookies.

“I’m looking forward to having fun — the judging, and meeting people,” Corenne said.

The girls were among the dozens of other fair participants and volunteers who arrived early to set up for the annual event, which drew close to 25,000 visitors last year, according to Crook County Fairgrounds Manager Pat Wood. Organizers are hoping to bring that number closer to 30,000 this year, though the fair will look a bit different than in years past.

Last year, officials changed several aspects of the fair, moving it from July to August, adding a rodeo and making admission free. The goal, Wood said, was to bring back a more traditional, agriculture-based feeling and to make the fair affordable to a wider range of people. This year, the transition will go one step farther, with the elimination of the carnival rides and games that once dominated the fairgrounds’ central area.

With the midway gone, Wood said organizers are now focusing on building the number of activities for children across the fair.

“The carnival didn’t seem like a good fit anymore … We realized that the American picture of a fair adds that Ferris wheel and that carnival, but there are successful fairs that don’t have them,” he said. “We’re trying to move back to that country feel — agriculture and educational activities, that’s really what the fair should be about.”

Participation in some of those activities, including quilting, baking and crafts is actually up slightly this year, said Diana Edwards, the superintendent of Carey Foster Hall, an exhibit building. Edwards said more people seem to be entering their wares in the competitions, many of which had already been judged by Tuesday afternoon.

Around the room, judges armed with rolls of first-place blue ribbon stickers were leaving their mark on trays of cookies, jars of jam, and arts and crafts of all kinds. Nancy Conlee, the judge for baked goods, sampled and evaluated cookies for their taste, texture and appearance, giving high marks to a chocolate chip-butterscotch-mint cookie.

Nearby, Darla Estes wrapped up more than two hours of judging food in jars, pickles to jam. She said year after year, interest seems to remain high in the art of preserving food.

“There are always new people who want to try it,” she said.

Wood said he and other fair officials are optimistic about a high turnout, even in a slower-than-normal economy. With free entry and a simpler approach, Wood said he’s hoping visitors will be attracted by a different type of fair.

“We’re trying to create our own identity,” he said. “If you go to Deschutes and then come here, it’s a 180-degree (change of) atmosphere.”

If you go

What: 2008 Crook County Fair

When: 5 to 10 tonight, 10 a.m. to 11 p.m. Thursday through Saturday

Where: 1280 S. Main St., Prineville

Admission: Free

Contact: 541-447-6675