What do you get when you cross 1980s rock icon Pat Benatar with an elephant ear?
The Clark County Fair, of course.
Summer’s Best Party kicks off its 150th anniversary fair this morning, and by the time it closes on Aug. 12, more than 250,000 people will have attended, and nearly $3 million will have been spent, based on other recent fairs.
Clark County’s fair is basically the same every year, but it always seems like there is something new, too. This year there’s a new carnival ride — the Super Shot Drop Tower, which promises acceleration to three times the force of gravity in a 90-foot freefall. (Um, no thanks.) There will be a giant sand sculpture in the theme building, a 150th Anniversary Parade at 1:50 p.m. today, and an appearance by the 2018 American Honey Queen, Kayla Fusselman of Kempton, Pa.
Still, tradition runs deep at the fair. In a story for today’s Columbian, reporter Scott Hewitt looks back on that first fair in 1868, which was held in what is now called Esther Short Park, and some of the fairs that followed it.
Though not a part of the current lineup, horse racing was a big part of most of those early fairs. But many of the traditions continue. A report on the 1910 fair talked about the fine quilts on display, and this year’s fair will also feature many beautiful quilts. That 1910 fair featured a python, and this year, Brad’s World Reptiles will display snakes, lizards and a host of other creatures not normally found in the 4-H barns. Finally, to get to that fair, the local streetcar company added extra service; this year
C-Tran will offer free round-trip service from its Park & Ride locations.
If you go to the fair, there’s a good chance of running into people you know, or coming across something you haven’t seen before. Pick up a program and try something new. Watch the 4-H kids do a live demonstration. Sit through the cookware sales presentation and afterward try to snag a sample of the food that was cooked. Watch a few minutes of the Tuff Trucks and be glad your teenagers don’t drive like that (or worry that they do.)
See all of the corners of the fair, including the sheep and pigs in the Livestock South pavilion, and pop your head into the Dr. Jack Giesy Arena to see if there is a horse show in progress. Relax in the shade of the Family Fun Stage. And just maybe you’ll be walking through the E-shaped livestock building when a calf is being born.
If you want to get something to eat, hamburgers have been around since the early days of the Clark County Fair. Ice cream is another treat, although that first fair wouldn’t have had ice cream cones — they weren’t popularized until 36 years later, at the 1904 St. Louis World’s Fair. (Another fair favorite is the Ferris wheel, which debuted at the 1893 World’s Columbian Exhibition in Chicago.)
Locally, the Clark County Dairy Women have offered milkshakes since the 1950s, and that is tradition enough for us.
Still not convinced to go to the fair? On Thursday, there will be an RV demolition derby. You can buy one of those self-wringing miracle mops. This is one of the few weeks of the year you can eat a Ridgefield Lions burger, and they’re bringing back the chicken, too. Wouldn’t your girlfriend’s bedroom look nicer with a stuffed purple dog that’s 3 feet tall?
You can buy a decal for the window of your truck, a new leather wallet and a slice of fresh-baked apple pie a la mode. It’s Summer’s Best Party, and we hope it will be that way for another 150 years.
