Daily Freeman, August 23, 2007
Portrait of a 'fair' life
By Bonnie Langston
Can't get enough of the Dutchess County Fair? Can't get there at all? No problem. Clinton Corners photographer Molly Ahearn can help fill many a gap with her new book, "The Dutchess County Fair: Portrait of an American Tradition."
And what a portrait it is.
Theodore Roosevelt spoke there in 1910. Later, his distant cousin, Franklin Roosevelt, whose children exhibited at the fair, attended. Displays have proved to be conversation pieces, too, including Adolph Hitler's car, a fallout shelter, a Polaris missile and a space capsule.
More typically, the fair also has hosted untold numbers of exhibits including livestock, crafts, gardening, baked goods, clothing and much more. Not to mention entertainment and loads of favorite foods like the popular sausage-and-peppers, fried dough and 4-H milkshakes, the "best milkshakes on the planet Earth," according to Ahearn.
She could not say whether another traditional element, the husband-calling contest established in the 1980s, is standard fare at similar events in the state or nation. Ahearn said she has not been "lucky enough" to hear any of the competitions, but she had fun reading about them in her research.
An example is the following call from nine-time blue-ribbon winner Ernestine Martin of Clinton: "Biiiil! My doctor just called! Guess what, sucker? We've killed another rabbit!"
Ahearn will be at the fair's arts-and-crafts tent from 3 to 6 p.m. through Saturday, signing her book. In addition, she is scheduled for an appearance from 7 to 9 p.m. Friday at Barnes and Noble in the town of Ulster.
Within her book's pages are dozens of photographs - hers and vintage images - as well as a history of the fair itself, complete with a timeline and quotes from old-timers and more recent participants. The foreword was written by Tom Odak, who managed the fair from 1979 until last season, leaving behind a legacy that includes greatly beautified grounds.
The book's front cover boasts Ahearn's photo of a thundering draught horse team, and on the back a quote from 1960s recording artist Don McLean, known for his hit song, "American Pie."
Ahearn said it is likely that many people don't know McLean got his start at the Dutchess County Fair by taking part in "Raphael's Talent Search."
"Don McClean was the winner," Ahearn said. "He subsequently came back to perform at least a couple times. He was kind enough to give me a handwritten quote for the book."
Among other fascinating facts she found in her research, the most compelling, she said, was a "visionary" speech in 1893 by Governor Roswell P. Flower, who was well aware of local and East Coast agricultural challenges.
"Eastern farmers were dropping like flies," Ahearn said, "and the kids were leaving for the cities."
Flower knew, for instance, that area grain producers could not compete with their counterparts in the Midwest where the land was flat, free of rocks and fertile. He offered the crowd not only encouragement but also suggestions. Among them were alternative agricultural practices like bee-keeping and the establishment of orchards.
Flowers' statement, which Ahearn said she read several times, seemed prophetic for Dutchess County, which has developed a variety of niche markets.
Ahearn grew up with little knowledge of farms despite the fact she was born in the Garden State of New Jersey, albeit in the suburb of Ridgewood. At other times in her life, she has lived in major cities like New York, St. Paul and Barcelona. She moved from Westchester in 1994 to her current location, and she decided to sample the local flavor by taking part in an important area tradition.
"We went to the (Dutchess County) fair and had a ball," she said. "Of course I had my camera, because I'm a photographer."
Ahearn said she hasn't missed a year of fair attendance since her original foray, and she collected a lot of memories documented by her photographs, several of which she exhibited last year at the Starr Library in Rhinebeck. As a thank you to the library and the Rhinebeck Chamber of Commerce, which sponsored the show, she made a book that included 50 photos, a dedication and an artists' statement.
"People loved the book," she said.
In fact, they wanted to buy a copy, and Ahearn figured, why not make that possible through an extended version? All she needed was a publisher, which she found in Black Dome Press in Hensonville.
Then there was the research, much of it at the Adriance Library in Poughkeepsie pouring over micro-fiche of newspaper reports and data in the attic of the administration building on the grounds of the Dutchess County Fair.
She also searched 18 months to find the people whose images she had captured at the fair. She not only sought them and their names but also an OK for inclusion in her book.
"I found every last person, and everyone gave me permission to use their photos," she said. "Isn't that amazing?"
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