Free for all: Fun at 161st Canfield Fair need not cost a thing

You can milk a cow and watch the bees make honey.

By JEANNE STARMACK

VINDICATOR STAFF WRITER

CANFIELD — Are you cheap? Tight with a buck? Do you always “forget” your wallet? Have you sneaked into drive-ins in the car trunk?

Are you on the lookout for entertainment that doesn’t cost much, if anything at all?

Well, there’s a multitude of free things to do at the Canfield Fair. Yes, you pay to get in. But once they’ve pried the cost of admission from your tight fist, look around. There’s lots to do that won’t cost a dime.

Have you managed to get into your 30s, 40s, or 50s without ever having milked a cow?

That happens to some people. Deprived all that time, they may even die without ever getting the chance.

Don’t let it happen to you. Get down to the fair this year and do it — not for any amount of money, either.

For FREE.

Just behind the milking parlor at the south end of the fairgrounds, an experienced cow-milker will guide you through the process. You’ll yank it out the old-fashioned way, too — no machines.

Then you’ll get a button to proudly wear on your shirt: “I milked a cow at the Canfield Fair.”

Milkings take place twice a day, just like they would on the farm. Be there between 5 and 5:30 p.m., or, if you don’t want to wait in line, between 5 and 5:30 a.m.

Llamas in pajamas?

What else is there to do for fun, and for free? If you’ve never seen a llama wearing clothes, or even if you have, you’ll want to make a note of noon Saturday, and head over to building No. 8 — the coliseum.

Kids from 4-H llama clubs will compete for prizes and for the glory of having the best-dressed llama around in this Junior Fair contest.

Did you ever really look at your favorite sweater and wonder: How does a ball of wool, possibly from a blue-ribbon-winning sheep at last year’s Canfield Fair, become yarn to make articles of clothing such as this?

Get the answer in front of Sheep Barn No. 36 on Wetmore Drive, where Kay Thomas of Monaca, Pa., demonstrates yarn-making on an old-fashioned spinning wheel. Demonstrations are from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. every day.

Hailing from Kentucky, the Robinson Family Singers will perform every day near Gate 8 southwest of Western Reserve Village. They do country-gospel, and it’s their 13th year back to the fair. Show times are Thursday, Friday and Monday, 2 and 7 p.m.; and Saturday and Sunday, 2, 4:30 and 7 p.m.

History lessons

On your way back from their show, check out the village. Most of the buildings in it are from various spots throughout the Mahoning Valley, and they all have a history. Speech classes from local schools will do skits in the village all during the fair. And best of all, your money’s no good there.

Bees, encased in glass, making honey — would you pay to see that? You don’t have to! In Building No. 26, beekeepers explain the process as you watch it happen. Sweet.

And finally, don’t ask for how much the rooster crows. It crows for free.

The Pony Ring is the place to be Monday at 9:30 a.m. for the always very well-attended rooster crowing contest.

How many crows will your favorite rooster blast out in 30 minutes? You’re welcome to watch. But be mindful of the rules. No yelling. No poking.

It all starts Wednesday, when gates open at 8 a.m. Parking is — you guessed it — free.