Over the megaphone I hear “Will the parents of Judah Arnold please come to the main gate right away.” What? I thought Judah was right here next to….. oh, he doesn’t seem to be here anymore. Oops. Where did he run off to? Just a moment ago he was petting that goat next to Mrs. Hein.
Original photo courtesy of New Direction Photography
From that moment on I started listening to whatever the big announcer man was saying over the loudspeaker. Before, he seemed to be drawling on about chicken flying contests and coon hound races down by the pond, but maybe he was saying important things, too! Judah seemed to be having a good time with the Sheriff’s deputies at the main gate when my mom and I found him, but I figured out that he needed me to keep a closer eye on him in the goat barn the next time around.
When we walked back, I stared down the main thoroughfare, and the dusty haze mingled with the smells of fried food and the carnies pitching their songs to young lovers hand in hand. “5 tries for $2!” “Everyone’s a winner here! Want to give it a try, son?” “Are you going to win her something nice, young man?” I can still hear and see those moments when I pass by there in the middle of January and a lone cat scampers down behind the grandstand. It’s all branded into my heart and mind, and as I write this, I can taste the funnel cake melting in my mouth.
Clink, clink, clink, geeeetup!!! The horses pull and the dust kicks up and the sled jerks and then slides forward until they, the handlers, yell “whoaa!” Unhook, clink, clink, clink…. “now we have Bess and Tina from…..” the grandstand announcer rings out over the megaphone and the crackle of his microphone rings out into the arena and is lost in the herd of horses, men, and machinery that surround the horse pull arena. More dust and sun and sweat. The sweet smells of the fair are blowing past my face and I check my pockets to see if I managed to save anything for the demolition derby tonight, and fortunately, I did. I had $20, which was like $500 is to me today. I could get everything I needed and still have enough to impress that cute girl who was playing volleyball in the 4H barn last night at midnight. So many memories. The time seemed to stand still for just a few days at the end of summer. As I walked down the main drag, nothing else mattered. Just a wall of people, sights, sounds, and smells that sunk in so deeply that I never forgot any of them.
The Great Geauga County Fair is the tradition that every Geauga County and surrounding area kid never forgets. You remember the first time your parents let you wander off by yourself, and the first time you were allowed to find your own way back to the 4H barn, or maybe you were even allowed to find your way all the way home if you lived nearby! Getting on the Ring of Fire ride was scarier than you thought, but your friends all looked brave, so you jumped right on and kept a straight face. People from all over the county and all over the state came to the Fair, and you got to meet people from faraway places (which in retrospect were probably just the next town or county over), but you felt like the world came all the way to your town just to meet you. It was like a giant show and tell of the county’s very best offerings, and it always made me proud to say that I lived right there in Burton. I knew every nook and cranny of the entire fairgrounds.
Original Photo Courtesy of Heather Ryerson
Over the past few years I have been traveling during fair time, but this year I am looking forward to taking my son out and introducing him to the wonder of the Geauga County Fair. It’s still early, but the fair is a tradition that stands strong in the mind of every Geaugan in the county. Homegrown or imported, you soon realize how important the fair is to our history and tradition.
Make plans to attend the fair this year. Take your spouse, your kids, your friends. Start a tradition that will grow your roots deep into the Geauga County soil and bring stability and strength into your life through the memories it will create….good home town memories of what a community looks like when it joins together to produce one of the best fairs in the country – the Great Geauga County Fair!
