Tradition and spectacle make for great experience

The fair will introduce car racing for the first time this year.
BY AMANDA GARRETT
VINDICATOR TRUMBULL STAFF
BAZETTA -- There was a checkered flag, screaming fans and an enthusiastic announcer similar to any NASCAR event.
School bus racers at the grandstand track at the 160th annual Trumbull County Fair, however, were driving slightly larger vehicles than Jeff Gordon or Dale Earnhardt Jr.
School bus racing has become a staple at the fair. Crowds packed the grandstand to watch brightly colored buses rumble past at 80 to 90 miles per hour.
"It's always a grandstand filling event," fair board President Richard Roscoe said.
One of Tuesday's winners, Bob Egley of Kittanning, Pa., praised the quality of the grandstand track after pulling ahead of Ben Clepper of Freeport, Pa., to take the trophy in a 15-lap race.
Egley calls his souped-up school bus the Bat Bus because it's painted black and decorated with characters from the Batman comic books.
Drivers modify the engines of their school buses and take out the windows and doors to make them run faster.
Car racing
Because the bus racing has proved so popular, the fair added car racing to the lineup this year.
B.R.P. Modified Auto Racing will be featured at 6 p.m. Thursday at the grandstand.
Although the races have the potential to bring in a lot of people, the loud engines could disturb the vendors and animals, Roscoe said.
"Those race cars don't have any mufflers," he said. "We'll have to weigh the outcome and decide if we want to bring them back."
The roar of the school-bus engines could be heard as the fair's opening ceremonies kicked off in front of the cattle area.
All three Trumbull County commissioners, newly crowned Miss Trumbull County Fair Morgan McGraw and other local dignitaries lined up on top of a flat-bed truck to cut the gold ribbon to kick off this year's festivities.
Commissioner James G. Tsagaris then read from a proclamation to officially open the fair.
The fair brings families together, he said. "The fair gives Trumbull County a sense of community through agriculture and the arts."
Tsagaris' remarks were followed by the Parade of Colors March, featuring local 4-H clubs that are exhibiting at the fair.
Charlotte Noble of Cortland and her husband Leroy were enjoying the parade from benches just in front of the cattle barns. Charlotte, who camps all week on the grounds, said this year's fair marks a milestone for her.
"I've been coming to this fair since I was a little girl," she said. "I was figuring it up this morning. This is the 160th fair, and I've probably been to 60 of them."
agarrett@vindy.com