Times Herald Record, August 12, 2007

The Dutchess County Fair

By: Amy Berkowitz

Author: Molly Ahearn of Clinton Corners. This is her first book.
Background: Married to Bill Robinson; one son, Ryley Robinson
Occupation: Graphic designer for Namaro Graphic Designs in Rhinebeck. Her company designed the book.

Genre: Hudson Valley history and photography
Publisher: Black Dome Press, Hensonville
From the jacket: A time-honored Hudson Valley tradition since 1842, the Dutchess County Fair is the most popular county fair in New York state. This historical account, illustrated with more than 130 antique and contemporary photographs, maps and memorabilia, shows why almost a half-million people go through the turnstiles each year.

Author's view from the flap (Why they write): "I went to school at the International Center of Photography in New York City," she said. "I apprenticed with Bruce Davidson after school. I wanted to become a photojournalist. But I was spending more time doing photography that other people wanted to do instead of photography that inspired me."

Ahearn grew up in Ridgewood, N.J., and never went to a fair that emphasized farming like the Dutchess County Fair did, so it was all new to her.

"Every year, there is something new and I always have my camera," she said. "I realized I had a great collection of photos of the fair, but no photo releases. So I walked around the fair with the photos asking people about the subjects in them and I found almost every one of them.

"A lot of the (little) kids that are in the book now are in college. But the fair is timeless. It's always about farm life and culture ... and spending time with your family and friends."

Trivia: The Dutchess County Fair has been around since 1842. Don McLean, who sang "American Pie," won the first talent search competition at the fair in 1964. He came back to perform in 1973 and '75.

Price: $15.95
Availability: Amazon; Barnes & Noble; Borders; Mills Mansion, Staatsburg; Main Printing, Poughkeepsie; Oblong Books, Rhinebeck; Merritt Bookstore in Mill Brook and Red Hook.