The Fair

We went to the Fair every year, which I only knew as the “Fair” or the “Palmyra Fair”. I was much older when I discovered it’s actually the Wayne County Fair. Regardless of what anyone called it, it was a magical week of games, food, fun, and friends each year. It not only had the usual midway games, rides, and food, but there were a wide variety of agricultural displays (cows, goats, sheep, rabbits, chickens, roosters, guinea pigs, and what-not to represent the domesticated animal kingdom of Wayne County, and a host of plant life as well – vegetables, flowers, and such). There were also a couple commercial buildings with displays varying from farming equipment to the Sheriff’s Department with horrendous photographs of the tragic and bloody results of drinking and driving. We, as kids, always checked those out to see if there were any new horrendous photographs from the previous year so we could be grossed out anew.

I usually had a little bit of money saved up for the Fair, but ended up leaning much on the generosity of my parents (or older sibling) to fund my fun at the Fair. There was (and still is) a grandstand in front of a certain section of the racetrack that encircled the infield parking area. From said grandstand you watch such things as the tractor pull and the demolition derby. But, as it cost extra to enter the grandstand area, we never did. Speaking of cost, I remember the main entrance fee was always an odd amount. It wasn’t like $1 or even $1.50, it was something like 95¢ or $1.15.

I went to the Fair recently. It seemed ridiculously small (entrance fee was $6 and the food was ridiculously overpriced). Downright rinky-dink. I don’t think it was much bigger when I was a kid, though it probably has shrunk a bit since then. Back then the horse barn seemed like a long ways away, which, I suppose, is the reason I rarely visited the horse barn. That and horses were intimidating to me as a little kid. It’s actually nearby. Perspectives are different for kids.

I did try a sugar waffle during my recent visit, which tasted just I remember from when I was a kid – delicious. The taffy was a bit of a disappointment because back in the day there was a machine pulling the taffy. It was mesmerizing to watch. I don’t rightly recall, but I think that before the machine a couple people would do the taffy pulling by hand.

I remember one evening in particular that we as a family attended (including my parents). It was just a bit on the chilly side, weather-wise, and my parents made me wear a cardigan sweater to protect my health and well-being against the ravages of a somewhat chilly evening in late August. I felt SO ridiculous in that sweater and prayed to all the powers that be that I wouldn’t run into any of my friends. Well, as fate would have it, I did come across my friend Sam who was dressed in a fabulously cool cowboy outfit, as he was involved in the horses and horse show. I was miserable that entire evening and to this day I blame the scars I still bear on my parents and that accursed cardigan sweater.