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The rock and the rooster — landmarks of Canfield Fair — have storied history
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Rock around the rock: Others look on while Dawn Reents hoists Hope Reents, 10, to the top of the rock to join herself and David Reents, 7. The trio came all the way from Fredericksberg, VA to accomplish the ascent. Canfield Fair Saturday, August 30, 2008. Daniel C. Britt.
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Rock around the cock: The cock, a Canfield Fair icon, oversees the crowd of thousands Saturday, August 30, 2008. Daniel C. Britt.
- PHOTOGALLERY:
The 2008 Canfield Fair - So far, fair assistance
faring well - 3 religious services
available to fairgoers - Bidding for quality and
the 4-H - Dragons, turtles, degus!
Oh my! - Royal court
- A trip to the
fair doesn't come cheap,
fairgoers say - VIDEO:
Jane Renkenberger - VIDEO:
Fair Mom - VIDEO:
Leroy's Sausage - 50 years at fair
bring honors for 2 - Wet rides, cow
kisses and tradition - Produce makes for
fair display - 2008 Outstanding Youth
Mahoning County
Junior Fair - Canfield Fair continues
long tradition - Admission and Ride
Prices - Health officials prepare
for fair
By ASHLEY LUTHERN
CANFIELD — Saturday morning, Ireland Blume accomplished what can be considered a childhood milestone in the Mahoning Valley.
She climbed to the top of the rock at the Canfield Fair and came back down, completely unaided.
“I’ve tried to climb it every year for a while now,” said the 11-year-old from Boardman.
The 50-ton boulder that sits in the center of the fair near the grandstand has become a focal point of the fair, a popular meeting spot and childhood right of passage.
“It’s a major feat for kids to get up there,” said Erin Blume, Ireland’s mother. She was waiting at the rock to meet friends and family.
“It’s tradition to say, ‘meet you at the rock,’” Blume said. “We used to meet at the rooster [statue on the grandstand], but the kids like the rock better. If anyone in our group gets lost, we just head to the rock and meet them there.”
The theme for this year’s Canfield Fair is “Rock Around the Rock” to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the rock’s location.
“In 1958, William Kilcawley spotted the top half of that rock in what is now the immediate parking area,” said Judge James Evans, fair board president. “He thought it would be 12 tons and hired a company to move it, but in fact it was 50 tons.”
Kilcawley, a Youngstown industrialist and philanthropist, had the rock moved by the G.F. Howard Construction Co. to the center of the fairgrounds and hired an Oberlin College geology professor to study it.
The professor, Dr. Reuel B. Frost, determined that the rock was deposited by a glacier 18,000 to 20,000 years ago and that it had traveled at least 500 miles to its present location, based on the anorthosite, a type of gabbro (a dark, coarse-grained rock), that he found.
Only sandstone, shale and limestone are found naturally in the Mahoning Valley and the nearest type gabbro in the rock can be found north of Toronto, Canada.
“This rock was something to be looked at,” Judge Evans said. “It’s a focal point of the fair. Everyone says at least once, ‘meet you at the rock.’”
Less than 100 yards away stands another fair landmark atop the ticket booth at the grandstand. The gleaming rooster on his perch at least 20 feet in the air visually represents the fair’s “something to crow about” motto and is another meeting spot.
Read the full story Monday in The Vindicator and on Vindy.com.