Hudson Valley Magazine, August 2007

Vintage Volumes

By Rita Ross

The Dutchess County Fair has been delighting Valleyites and visitors alike since it first opened back in 1842. It’s now the second largest event of its kind in New York (only the State Fair in Syracuse is bigger) and more than half a million people are expected to pass through the turnstiles during its six-day run this year. One of the keys to the fair’s longevity — and a large part of its charm — is a tradition of keeping the main spotlight on agriculture, despite changing times and trends. In The Dutchess County Fair: Portrait of an American Tradition (Black Dome Press, $15.95), photographer Molly Ahearn takes a fond look back at this fun-filled fair and its intriguing evolution through the years.

Every period has had its high points. In the early days, the most popular event was a plowing competition to determine who could clear a quarter-acre in the shortest time using a pair of oxen. Ladies competed in homemade-craft contests, in categories including best macrame broom case and best embroidered silk toilet cushion.

By the 1920s, fairgoers were hungry for more modern thrills. Ahearn notes that the 1920 fair featured daily airplane shows with daredevil Larry Drake climbing out of an open cockpit to walk the wings in midair. That year, too, a prize cabbage weighed in at 28 pounds.

At the 1932 fair, Hyde Park resident Franklin Delano Roosevelt — then governor of New York and a big booster of the fair — was said to have been intrigued by a pre-animal-rights-era act in which a horse (named John the Baptist) and rider dove off a 40-foot platform into a pool of water. During World War II, the fair was cancelled and the empty, wide-open fairgrounds were used as plane-spotting locations. In 1960, at the height of the Cold War, a fallout shelter was displayed at the fair, and Governor Nelson Rockefeller encouraged all citizens to build one.

Disco dancing was a hot nighttime activity in the 1970s, along with the likes of Joe Chitwood’s Thrill Show, featuring automotive stunts and races. One car was even shot out of a cannon.

The fair celebrated its 150th anniversary in 1995. As usual, the crowds lined up at its renowned 4-H milkshake bar. This divine dairy stop features couldn’t-be-fresher milk from local cows; it’s so popular that some folks come to the fair just for their annual vanilla, chocolate or strawberry shake.

Now, in the 21st century, the Dutchess County Fair continues to delight. Last year, the baking contest featured the likes of a cake in the shape of a chicken. And digital photos were allowed in the amateur photography contest for the first time in 2006.

Ahearn’s book is stuffed with lots more tantalizing trivia. Did you know that rock star Don McLean was discovered at the little ole Dutchess Fair? In 1964 he took the top prize after performing “American Pie” at the fair’s Raphael’s Talent Search. In fact, he so impressed radio personality Raphael Mark that Mark arranged a performance for McLean at Dutchess Community College. (Mark’s wife Frances was quoted in the Poughkeepsie Journal as saying, ‘This song is never going to make it. It’s too long.’) McLean returned to the fair in 1973 and 1975 as a headline attraction.

Sponsored by the Dutchess County Agricultural Society, the fair now features more than 1,600 farm animals every year (sure to delight the kiddies) and everything from spinning, weaving and goat-milking demonstrations to horse and canine shows, floral-design displays and tractor pulls. (There’s even a Chicken Clucking & Rooster Crowing contest. No foolin’.)

But that’s only scratching the surface. You can stroll through the midway and play games, whoop and holler on carnival rides, pop into tents for 4-H competitions and cooking demos featuring luscious Hudson Valley summer veggies and other fresh ingredients, and check out the concession and vendor stalls. When your feet get weary, pause for a laugh at a comedy hypnotism show, cheer at a talent contest — and catch top-notch music acts including Tracy Lawrence and Ricky Scaggs.