70th Westmoreland Fair will begin today

The weeklong event takes place in Mt. Pleasant Township.

By PATRICK VARINE
Trib Total Media

On a sun-drenched afternoon early this week, it was relatively quiet at the Westmoreland Fairgrounds.

The hustle and bustle of the fair won’t start until today.

But most of the amusement rides were in place. Men were putting the finishing touches on the Viking ship ride. Goats were bleating and a pair of camels occasionally snorted as they ambled around a pen at the fairgrounds on Blue Ribbon Lane in Mt. Pleasant Township.

This year marks the 70th edition of the fair. That’s seven decades of apple pies, farm animals and funnel cakes — not to mention a lot of paperwork.

“We have about 10,000 competitive entries,” said Joann Logan, who’s joined by fellow volunteer Shirley Keller in organizing and entering data for judged competitions in a wide variety of categories. “And we have about 900 exhibitors ranging from six months old to 97 years old.”

“We really enjoy the people,” Logan said. “It’s so much fun to see the number of entries. We have one person this year who entered 175 items — they’re going to need a full-sized trailer just to get all that stuff here!”

And just like any large social occasion, there’s always a little bit of behind-the-scenes drama.

“We joked about doing a soap opera based on the fair. We’d call it ‘As the Ferris Wheel Turns,’” Logan said with a laugh. “One time there was a trio of sisters who were always trying to outdo one another in the cooking competition. They’d always ask us how the others did because they didn’t want to talk to one another.”

Logan and Keller can share stories of romantic drama among teens, goats eating the prize ribbons in the stall next door and the stiff competition among angel food cake, apple pie and chocolate cake bakers — although in fairness to them, those three dessert categories can earn you a spot at the Pennsylvania Farm Show.

There is perhaps a little less competition among vendors at the fair. Jaybird Boutique Co. owner Karley Lydig of Rockwood is in her fourth year as a fair vendor, selling custom designs printed onto T-shirts, home decor, glassware and other items. She said her favorite part of coming to the Westmoreland Fair has less to do with sales, and more with seeing how much fun her daughter has.

“She loves the animals, the rides, and definitely the funnel cakes,” Lydig said.

A few out buildings away, the smell of bleach hung in the air as Vaughn Hamrock and other members of Courtyard Concessions were scrubbing their kitchen in preparation for the fair’s opening day.

“I really like that they keep the gate fair, and the whole thing is family-friendly,” said Hamrock, a Scottdale resident who is the second generation of his family to operate the Courtyard food booth. They’ve been coming to the fair since 1989.

Both Hamrock and Lydig were vendors at last month’s Fayette County Fair.

“At Fayette the gate is $20 a person,” Hamrock said. “With that as the ticket price, if you’re coming with a family you can pretty much know you’ll be kissing $500 goodbye by the end of the night.”

Admission to the Westmoreland Fair is $10.

For Logan and Keller, the past two weeks since the Aug. 1 competition entry deadline have been crunch time.

“The big challenge is to have all the entries in the computer so you can easily look people up and get them registered when they all arrive,” Keller said.

As part of this year’s 70th anniversary, fair organizers created a special design which will be sold on commemorative fair T-shirts.

And while she hasn’t been around for the fair’s entire run, Logan said she loves seeing familiar faces.

“It’s wonderful watching children grow up and continue participating and entering the competition once they become adults,” she said.

The Westmoreland Fair will be Aug. 16-24 at 123 Blue Ribbon Lane in Mt. Pleasant Township. For a full schedule of events and more information, see WestmorelandFair. com.