Throughout the week, Josh kept his focus on gathering his nine items for the contest at the fair. He had it all planned - a small tub of mayonnaise, two separate glass bottles filled with cow's and goat's milk respectively, a few slices of cheese, and a roll of cloth from his sheep's wool. He filled the rest of the eligible spots with his autumn harvests; a bunch of grapes, some cranberries, a yam, and a pumpkin. He was ready to go.
On the day, Josh goes through his daily farming routine of watering the crops and petting the farm animals. He fills his basket with his grange display items, and embarks on the short, leisurely walk to town. The fair presented a bustling, lively atmosphere. There were balloons, a clown entertaining the guests, a few tents draped in red and white hosting the carnival games, farm animals enjoying the sun at the petting zoo, and the aroma of juicy, delectable burgers wafting from a barbecue. The event was also scattered with tourists, visiting from around the valley. Sitting in front of Harvey's clinic and Pierre's shop, stood a few large, polished wooden tables for the grange display contest.
"Well, welcome to the most important festival of the year, the Stardew Valley Fair," said Lewis. "If you'd like to participate in the display contest, I've set up an empty stand for you."
Josh walks up to the only remaining wooden table, and looks at his competitors' displays on either side. Pierre's table was filled to the perimeter with produce. On the other hand, the highlight of Marnie's table was a giant cheese wheel.
"Hi Josh! I tried my best, but my display's not as fancy as Pierre's, but I hope I can get bonus points for my giant cheese wheel," said Marnie.
"It is very impressive," replied Josh. "Maybe afterwards we can all enjoy it on a few crackers with some wine!"
"Are you setting up a display, Josh? You could show everyone all the wonderful produce from Furwood!" said Marnie.
Josh turns to his display table, and tries to arrange his items in an aesthetically pleasing way. He leaves his basket on the table as part of the display, holding those items that were small and delicate.
"Hello, Josh," said Pierre. "Your display is quite nice, but it will be tough to beat mine! I have the finest produce from the valley all right here. Good luck anyway."
While waiting for the judging, Josh goes around to each of the festivities, and also tries his hand at the variety of carnival games - a fishing tent, a roulette game, a slingshot game, and a 'strength' game. Unfortunately, he wasn't good at any of them, resorting to just watching Abigail, Penny, Sam and Alex respectively excel. There was an elusive prize he had wanted - a fancy scarecrow wearing a black coat and top hat. Josh just had to have it.
Not far from where the clown was entertaining guests with corny jokes and balloon animals, Clint was displaying his proud tools and precious metal bars alongside his hammer and anvil, while Robin was busy carving some wooden furniture.
"Hey Josh," said Robin. "So how do you like your new house?"
"The building is flawless," said Josh. "I'm glad to have a lot more space now. I feel like I can finally invite people over to the farm! I hope it wasn't too much for you."
"Oh, it was nothing I couldn't handle!" she responded. "You know, I actually built my house from the ground up. It's definitely been the highlight of my career so far! Anyway, if you ever need a favour, all you need to do is ask!"
"Josh, how's it going?" asked Clint. "Good news, Emily and I have been spending a lot of time together. I think we've become very close, and it's all thanks to you!"
"I'm glad to know things are going well for you and Emily," replied Josh.
He pauses for a moment; Robin and Clint listen attentively.
"Um, Clint and Robin? Do you mind if I ask you something? I was wondering... if you both would be interested in helping me fix up the old community centre," asked Josh, nervously.
The two look at each other in surprise.
"Sorry, I know it's all a little sudden," he continued, "but I don't think I could do it without your help… specifically the whole 'restoring the actual building' part."
"Josh, after everything you've done for me, it's the least I could do," replied Clint.
"Yes, absolutely!" said Robin, with great vigour. "I remember when we built it up the first time, it was such a wonderful experience. I'd love to be a part of making our community whole again. It gives me a warm, fuzzy feeling just thinking about it!"
"Thank you for saying 'yes'," said Josh. "It will be great, I just know it."
Lewis announced that he had finished the judging for the grange display contest.
"Congratulations, Josh! You won first place with 91 points. Here are your star tokens, enjoy!" said Lewis.
Josh was stoked; he now had enough tokens to get his sophisticated scarecrow.
"Well, I didn't win, but it was great to share all my hard work! Congratulations, Josh," said Marnie.
"I can't believe I lost…" said Pierre, in great sadness.
All that excitement made Josh quite hungry, so he heads up to Gus' barbecue to enjoy one of his freshly-made burgers.
"It's a vegetarian burger with carrot and eggplant!" said Gus, proudly. "Enjoy as much as you like, it's all free today! Oh, make sure to dribble some of my secret sauce on there."
Josh sits on a large picnic table with Maru and Elliott. Despite how hungry he was, he could only fit in one burger. He converses with the two during lunch. As he leaves the fair with his new scarecrow in hand, Josh overhears a couple of tourists walking back to the bus stop, on their way home.
"That was definitely worth stopping by for the day, I had so much fun!" a woman said to her male friend.
"It was a long ride here, but I'm keen to come back again next year!" he responded.
The man looks at Josh, before saying to him, "It's a nice place you've got here, a real sense of community."
Josh smiles at the couple. "Yeah, I'm very fortunate to be living here."