We have a soft spot in our hearts for county fairs. Sure, they’re noisy and raucous and hot and gooey, but they call us back — those of us of a certain age, anyway — to a simpler time.

We have a special reason for being fond of the Benton County Fair, which kicked off its annual run on Wednesday and goes through Sunday: It reminds us of this county’s deep agriculture heritage, which we sometimes overlook in our rush to redefine our economy. Agriculture still is a potent economic force in this county, but sometimes it takes a nose-to-nose encounter with a cow to remind us.

We also like the fact that this year’s fair is kicking off just two weeks after da Vinci Days, which has its focus on science and engineering and art. In a few weeks, we’ll have the Fall Festival, which celebrates yet another aspect of life in Benton County. Somewhere in between, Beaver football kicks off.

These are community rites. In their own ways, they tell us what we value as a community. They serve as touch points as the year races past us. At their very least, they send a signal that maybe we should disrupt the hectic rhythms of our daily lives and engage our neighbors in a different context.

Like every other institution in these times of change, fairs everywhere are working to figure out ways to increase their appeal. Attendance at the Benton County Fair has stayed relatively steady over the last few years. Last year’s fair drew about 35,000 people.

For Benton County Fair officials, part of the goal is to figure out ways to attract teenagers and younger adults. So this year’s entertainment lineup features some musical acts meant to lure that notoriously fickle group, people who might think that fairs aren’t hip.

As it turns out, this time the teens are right: Fairs aren’t hip. They shouldn’t be hip. Even if teens decide to descend en masse onto this year’s fair, drawn by the bands and by an expanded carnival, part of their time on the fairgrounds will be spent talking about how corny and stupid it all is. This, as we know, is the function of teenagers in our society.

Our function here is to hope that this year’s Benton County Fair enjoys perfect fair weather — sunny days, temperatures in the mid-80s — and that it has a successful run. Our hope for you is that you get a chance to mingle with your neighbors and munch on some of that fair food — you know, the kind you should only eat once a year.

This is that time of year.

A postscript: Various Gazette-Times staff members will be at the G-T’s fair booth this year, so if you want to swing by and talk about the newspaper, we’ll be delighted to see you. Our booth — which this year offers a contest to judge your newspaper-delivery skills — is in the Indoor Arena. If you want to get on our good side right away, consider bringing some of those elephant ears with you.