Gates open today on 171st Canfield Fair

By JORDYN GRZELEWSKI

jgrzelewski@vindy.com

CANFIELD

By the start of this week, thousands of vendors lined the roads.

Fair officials, Junior Fair members and people manning the fair’s buildings and booths bustled around the fairgrounds. Outside the gates, hundreds of RVs were camped out.

The only thing missing were the crowds that bring the Canfield Fair to life.

That changes today, when the 171st Canfield Fair begins. The gates open today at 8 a.m., setting off a six-day event that draws tens of thousands of people each day with the promise of good food, entertainment and the continuation of a beloved Valley tradition.

Among those who were preparing for the fair earlier this week was Chris Randles, who runs a hot-dog stand near the grandstand. Randles, of Coshocton, has been coming to the Canfield Fair for six or so years.

“I absolutely love it. I look forward to this fair every single year,” he said. “The people just amaze me.”

Joe Rimedio of Austintown, of Rimedio’s Bakery Concessions also was getting his food truck ready for the week. He’s brought his business to the Canfield Fair for about 30 years, he said.

“It’s close to home,” he said of what he likes most about the Canfield Fair. “Most of the other times we’re on the road.”

All of the bakery’s goods – such as its strudel – are made in the trailer. Rimedio said he makes 10 to 15 pans a day on busy days at the fair.

Over at the fruits building, Penny Less of Greenford was at work setting up an exhibit displaying the 127 entries in the annual amateur wine-making competition.

The entries were judged Monday morning, with Mike Zappa taking home the best of show prize.

Less said the wine-making competition started in 2000 after the fruits building started to see a decline in commercial apple growers.

“We were trying to figure out what to do with the space. Somebody said something about wine,” said Less. “I said, ‘That’s great. It’s made with fruit.’”

The competition draws mostly local participants, but some from Cleveland and Pennsylvania, she said. It’s also drawn a loyal group of exhibitors.

“I’ve seen the same exhibitors since 2000, and it’s the only time I see them,” said Less. “I know their faces when they pull in.”

In the fine arts building, staff were hard at work getting the exhibits ready for the start of the fair.

Marcie Applegate, superintendent of the fine arts building, and Suzanne Gray, a fine-arts building staff member, drew attention to an attraction that’s new this year. Replicas of two famous paintings are set up. Holes are cut out of the faces depicted in the paintings so that fairgoers can become part of the art.

The paintings are “American Gothic” by Grant Wood and “The Scream” by Edvard Munch. Applegate and Gray painted the replicas.

“This is our latest interactive,” said Gray. “It’s to introduce famous art to the community.”

The fine arts staff hope to build upon the feature, each year adding more famous paintings to the lineup.

“We just hope that [visitors] have a lot of fun,” said Gray.

“And learn,” added Applegate.

Also new this year at the fine arts building is a rooster sculpture exhibit. The exhibit, which drew six entries, is a nod to the fact that 2017 is the Year of the Rooster in the Chinese zodiac. The rooster also happens to be the fair’s mascot.

Also getting ready for the start of the fair was Tammy Brooks, the Junior Fair photographer. Brooks has been photographing Junior Fair since she was a teenager, and said she’s only missed three fairs – once to get married, and twice because she was busy raising her kids.

Today will be a nonstop busy day for her, as she photographs the animals that Junior Fair members are selling. The portraits go to the buyers to put on display at their stores.

Brooks, with help from her family, friends and Junior Fair members, will work through the night to get the photos ready by Thursday.

Although the volunteer job is demanding, Brooks keeps coming back. Why?

“4-H is a family,” she said. “They’re part of your life. You just do it.”