CANTON: Through six generations, Elaine Dickerhoof’s family has never missed a Stark County Fair.On Tuesday, shortly after the gates of the 162nd fair opened, Dickerhoof watched as her 16-year-old granddaughter, Allison Haas, kept a “white broasting chicken’’ calm while waiting for it to be judged.Dickerhoof said she has attended the fair every year since “my parents first carried me in.”Allison is a member of the Robertsville Grange 4-H Club, whose members were given 25 “peeps” to raise in June. After narrowing their choices to the two best birds, the members brought them to the fair and entered them in the competition. After judging, the animals are sent to auction, where bidders compete for the right to purchase them.“[Bids] can go upwards to thousands of dollars, like a turkey sold for last year,” Dickerhoof said. The money goes to the 4-H members who raised the animals, she said.Larry Lokai, a retired teacher from Urbana who was invited to judge the competition, wore a chicken hat and passed out trinkets to put the kids at ease.“It helps keep them relaxed,” he said.In another barn, the Twitchers 4-H Club of Canton, which raises only rabbits and cavies (Guinea pigs), are permitted to enter one animal for each year they are in the club, said Michelle Young, a club adviser. On the cages holding the animals Tuesday, tags were displayed identifying the club’s affiliation with Akron Children’s Hospital.The tags attest to the 500 pounds of aluminum pop tabs members have collected for at least 15 years for the hospital’s burn unit and for kidney dialysis, said Tina Kline-Elsass, who is also an adviser.In order to enter the fair this year, home-schooled brother and sister Josh Badgett, 15, and Ashlea Badgett, 17, members of the Green Acres 4-H Club in south Canton, switched from raising hedgehogs to pygmy goats.“Needless to say, we wait to start school after Labor Day and after the fair. It’s part of their education,” said their mother, Rhonda Badgett. They entered three goats in the competition.“My life is 4-H. It’s so much fun,” Ashlea said while waiting for the tiny goats to be judged Tuesday.Pat Hoover, of Canfield, the original owner of Hoover’s Fudge, a fair favorite for more than 50 years, said she brings her trailer, handmade by her husband, Donald, to the fair each year to sell fudge for the family business.These days, it’s her daughter, Debbie Orosc of Salem, who runs the business and makes several varieties of fudge to sell fresh each day.The fair continues through Labor Day.Kathy Antoniotti can be reached at 330-996-3565 or kantoniotti@thebeaconjournal.com.