| AUGUST 19, 2010 -- You should know by now that there's really only one place in the region to go to every August if you want the old-fashioned fair experience (bonus: you get that fragrant agricultural smell wafting through the air).
Ox and horse pulls, watermelon-eating contests for kids, and vegetable-judging contests are all back for the 109th annual Hamburg Fair, which starts Friday afternoon and wraps up Sunday evening.
Things are slow to change in Lyme and even slower on the fairgrounds on Route 156. But some things are best left unaltered, like the all-day $20 pass for carnival rides that's still the best deal around, according to Hamburg Fair President Ted Powell III.
Organizers strive to keep the fair an "old-time country fair," but they have been making improvements. A new building this year will provide ample room for emergency technicians to use if necessary.
The Lyme Grange Fair Association acquired the building for $3,500, a bargain compared to what it would have cost (some $8,000) if not for the discounted price and the volunteer labor, Powell said.
Greeting visitors from the upper gatehouse will be a new 6- by 6-foot gatehouse, roomy in comparison to the current gatehouses sized for one gatekeeper.
"This one, you can have a party inside if you want," Powell joked.
The fair association plans to replace one gatehouse this year and the other in 2010. The new gatehouse is valued at about $1,200 or $1,400 but was purchased for $70, Powell said.
Also, this just in: the fairgrounds will have not just one, but two ATM machines, so it'll be easier to withdraw cash for more fried dough before trying to hold it down while riding one of the crazy rides magically propped up on the hilly fairgrounds!
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