Canfield Fair is all about growth and change


September 1, 2007 at 5:34p.m.

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CANFIELD — David Myers, 78, remembers when a carnival game at the Canfield Fair required contestants to shoot a pack of cigarettes off a shelf with a cork gun. The winner got to keep the cigarettes.

Robert DiRusso, 48, misses the freak shows.

Times have changed since the first Canfield Fair in 1847, when admission was one shilling, or 12.5 cents, according to Charlotte Agustin, author of a book on the fair’s history.

Now the event can draw as many as 100,000 guests in a day, surpassing the population of Youngstown, said Timm Schreiber, fair board member.

Growth and change have made their marks on nearly every aspect of fair life, say longtime fairgoers.

For more, see Sunday’s Vindicator and Vindy.com