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| My mother's beloved postcard of early Carthage Fairgrounds, long before either one of us had been there. |
It's because the Greater Cincinnati Carthage Fair is nearly forgotten that I wanted to post memories about it. The sad truth is, its current incarnation, the Hamilton County Fair, isn't in great shape. Just this morning I read a local news article that 4-H has broken away from the traditional fair on the old Carthage fairground for a new venue in western Hamilton County, Stricker's Grove. Someday I might attend. Right now I'm too bitter.
Even though I haven't been a resident of Hamilton County, Ohio, for almost a decade, I've tried to support the Hamilton County Fair by at least attending. Last year even that was a challenge. My mother (who hasn't missed a fair in Carthage in her nearly 79 years) and I went over to the fair midday last August. Things looked disturbingly quiet and shut up. Even the doors to the exhibit halls, where we had each won so many ribbons during our heyday, were closed to us. I ducked into the manager's office and asked. Somehow I'd missed the news that the fair would open only in the evenings. I was stunned.
I told Mom. We sat disconsolately in the empty entertainment tent for a few minutes, then wandered back between the buildings. We looked at the garden exhibits by local growing clubs, tried to peer through the paint-smeared windows of the arts building, dragged down the hill and through the mute midway, then climbed in the car and went home. We both counted it as our annual visit. It was too hard to fight traffic to return to the fairgrounds that evening, and we were in the middle of a blistering heat wave. Neither one of us felt up to the strain.
I told my mother I regard missing Hamilton County Fair as bringing the kind of curse they talk about regarding ravens and the Tower of London: Legend has it if ravens aren't kept at the Tower, the Tower itself will fall and England will suffer a terrible misfortune. My superstition is that if Mom misses a fair, something will happen to her and I'll lose my last link to both her heritage of harness racing and Carthage Fair as our family shared it. (Naturally, I'm more concerned about losing her, period, but she understands.)
Sadly, the fair I fell in love with as a child is long gone. The current fair is on life support. What else is left but to turn my vision back in time to Carthage Fair as I experienced it with my family, so many of whom are now gone.
NOTE: If you also have memories of Carthage Fair you'd like to share, add them to the comments. Or contact me about a guest post. I'd love to hear others' tales of enjoying Carthage Fair.
Hi Nancy,
ReplyDeleteMy memories of Carthage Fair go back to 1976. My mom worked in the office every summer with three of her teacher friends. We'd go to the fair for hours with my dad while she worked. We'd check in at the air-conditioned office which always felt so glorious in the early-August heat. Mom seemed to be having a lot of fun, and there was always something interesting going on. I'd go by at the end of the night and listen to my mom announce on the loud speaker that they had a lost child. They had several every night, the parents would lose them and take their time finding them. I guess they knew their children would looked after in the office. Although some parents were truly concerned, I loved the reunions when the mother would run up to the office practically sobbing to find her child happily eating candy oblivious to all the fuss.
My favorite memories are of walking along the fairway with my girlfriend, Judy. We both had long, straight hair, (hers was red and mine was blond) short shorts and tee shirts cut off to show our flat bellies (those were the days). The carney boys flirted with us to get us to play the games, and we loved the attention. We'd walk down the fairway and have our handwriting analyzed to see what kind of people we were, because at 13 we really didn't know. Being a city girl, I always marveled at how big the cows and horses were and how soft the bunnies. I couldn't get over how funny the chickens were and I loved playing with the kittens. I always went on the nights of the Demolition Derby and tried to pick out which car would be the winner.
I am also saddened by the slow death of the County Fair. But I am as much to blame. I haven't been there in about 10 years. It just didn't seem the same when I took my kids back. I wish I could give them those same wonderful memories.