As a boy, I attended the Crawford County Fair in Meadville, PA regularly with my family. While I grew up in Mercer County, the Crawford County Fair was always great family fun. I never went for the concerts, events, or entered any competitions, but I do remember enjoying looking at all the animals, especially the chickens. Cotton Candy and Nachos were my favorites from the vendors and winning prizes from the fishing or shooting games was also a grand time. Fairs, while classic entertainment, still do provide lots of family friendly activities and provide local businesses the opportunity to talk one-on-one with people. It is because of the fond memories combined with the business opportunity that I represented SLC Lighting at the 70th Annual Crawford County Fair.
This year, the fair ran from August 22nd through the 29th. While I do not have the numbers in front of me, I know that thousands were in attendance. The main events consisted of truck and tractor pulls, a demolition derby, Bull Ride Mania, and concerts featuring Jake Owen, Justin Moore, and Jeannie Seely. There was always something going on throughout the day. Lots of pageants, animal judging, and a little bit of racing was hosted. Some of the events were free, while others required a ticket to entry.
Since this was a business trip for me, I was unable to ride any rides or walk around to see any of the animals. However, judging from the experiences of others, the rides were grand fun and included in the price of entry. Birds were unable to be shown due to precautions of the national bird flu, but pigs, horses, cows, and the like were still in attendance. It is mainly an agricultural fair, after all.
One thing I will mention is that the food was amazing. There were so many choices to be had from funnel cake to Chinese. I am partial to hot Italian sausage and a good stromboli, myself, but the classics such as burgers, lemonade, nachos, and cinnamon/sugar/vanilla roasted almonds were gladly consumed. There was no lack of choices as it was impossible to support everyone during that week. The food was worth going for just by itself.
My experience of the Crawford County Fair from a business prospective ended up leaving me with a stronger appreciation for all the hard work that goes into hosting such a grand event. I got to talk with grandstand workers, parking staff, security guards, other businesses and even the restroom attendant. Knowing how much work these people put into the fair leaves me nothing but thanks for what they did this week. As a spectator and attendee, I never really paid much notice to the staff, but after being part of the fair itself, I have grown to enjoy the age-old tradition even more.
Thank you fair staff and anyone involved with making the Crawford County Fair great this year!
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