For the second straight year, Inners Shows, based in Franklinton, will be handling the midway entertainment for the fair at Veterans Memorial Park on West Lebanon Street.
Gary Willard, co-manager of the event along with Mike Thorpe, said that organizers were pleased by what Inners Shows had to offer in 2008 during its first appearance at the local fair.
“They had all the rides they said they would have,” Willard said Wednesday. “They put on a good midway.” The switch to Inners Shows was made before last year’s fair after rundown equipment and other problems occurred with a previous provider.
Inners Shows, a 100-year-old operation that provides midway entertainment at events throughout the Southeast, offers an assortment of rides for all family members, including thrill rides and kiddie rides, in addition to games and concessions.
Willard said that a change in admission prices will greet fair-goers this year. Everyone will pay a $2 entry fee at the gate, then be charged for individual rides. That differs from 2008, when people paid $13 at the gate, which allowed them access to all rides at no extra expense.
The fair co-manager explained that the new arrangement takes into account that there are older persons who want to attend the fair, but who are not that interested in the rides.
Coupons will be sent to local schools that will allow students to receive a $2 discount on rides at the fair during “Kids Night” on Sept. 29, the opening day of the event.
Bandstand entertainment will be provided this year by the ECW wrestling organization, to include nightly shows and a “full-blown” event on Saturday at the end of the fair week, Willard said.
Concession stands also will be manned by members of the two groups that own the park, the local Veterans of Foreign Wars and American Legion. The county fair was launched by those organizations in 1947.
“It’s one of the two major events that we hold each year,” Willard said. The other is a fiddlers convention conducted in June.
Fair Exhibits
The traditional judging of exhibits such as field crops, crafts, flowers and baked goods also will be part of this year’s fair, with members of the American Legion Ladies Auxiliary to coordinate that portion of the event.
However, live agricultural exhibits will be limited to poultry and rabbits, with no large livestock to be involved, Willard said. A decline in the local farming industry and lack of participation by the public led to the elimination of livestock judging after the 2007 fair, organizers have said.
Willard said that those wishing to enter the various contests can bring their items to the exhibit hall at the fairgrounds on Sept. 25 and 26, the Friday and Saturday before the fair week. The building is expected to be open all day on both of those dates to allow exhibits to be registered.
Auxiliary member Katherine Thorpe is in charge of the exhibit program.
Fair books outlining general rules and regulations of the event and information on exhibit categories are available at the Greater Mount Airy Chamber of Commerce and the Mount Airy Public Library.
More information about the fair can be obtained from Veterans Memorial Park at 786-2236.
Contact Tom Joyce at tjoyce@mtairynews.com or at 719-1924.
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