Five-day Jacktown Fair will kick off on Tuesday with a parade
WIND RIDGE – The nation’s oldest continuing fair will make its proud return next week in Wind Ridge when the 145th annual Jacktown Fair kicks off five days of fair festivities with a full slate of activities. Sponsored by the Richhill Agricultural Society, the Jacktown Fair will be held Tuesday through Saturday and will kick off with the traditional parade, which will be held at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday.
The theme for this year’s parade is “Proud of Our Heritage+ Envisioning the Future.” Prizes of $100, $75, $50 and $25 will be awarded to winning entries that follow the theme. Float entries will be judged on their attractiveness, design, workmanship, use of the theme, originality and other elements. Anyone desiring to enter a float or entry corresponding to this year’s theme is encouraged to do so.
The Jacktown Fair Board is inviting all interested churches, groups, organizations and others to participate in the parade. If anyone has an interesting, entertaining, showy or unusual item, their entry will be welcomed.
Fair organizers also are interested in having antique and classic cars, clowns, fire equipment, horses and regional queens and princesses in the parade.
Anyone who would like to enter in the parade or compete for the theme prize should call Marcia Sonneborn, parade chairwoman, at 724-428-4344. Date of entry will be taken into consideration when forming the parade line.
The parade’s grand marshal is H. Terry Grimes, retired Greene County president judge. Grimes said the Jacktown Fair is “a great community event” that he has been attending for 55 years, an event that provides “good entertainment, good food and a reunion with friends and family.”
The parade will feature Allison Denman, 16-year-old daughter of Audley and Sherry Denman of Graysville, who is the reigning Jacktown fair queen, as well as the contestants who will be vying for this year’s fair queen title. In addition, state and local dignitaries have been invited to participate in this year’s parade.
Immediately following the parade, a ceremony will be held at the grandstand to crown the 2010 fair queen. The pageant will begin at 7 p.m. today at the fairgrounds.
Contestants will be judged on an essay on “What The Jacktown Fair Means to My Community,” an interview session, an evening gown competition and a three- to five-minute speech on “Why You Should Come To The Jacktown Fair.”
The new queen will attend all activities at the fair and all of the local fairs and parades. She will also travel to Hershey in January 2011 to compete in the state fair queen pageant.
This year’s fair once again will offer a wide array of entertainment, rides, food and fun for the whole family.
The year’s fair will also see the return of the “Jacktown Fair Idol” competition, a take-off on the hugely successful American Idol television series. The competition will offer nearly $2,000 in total prize money, including a $1,000 grand prize.
Now in its third year, “Jacktown Fair Idol” has become a local talent show known for having the best payoffs in the region.
“The $25 entry fee is fully refundable when you show up for the preliminary competition, so it is virtually free to try for the prize money of $1,000 for first place, $500 for second and $250 for third,” said Shelly Brown, event spokeswoman.
The preliminary Idol competition will take place Wednesday through Friday, and the final will be held on Saturday.
Contestants will perform each night of the fair before well-qualified – and highly opinionated – judges. From those, two will be chosen each night by the judges to advance to finals night and compete for the nearly $2,000 in prize money. In addition to those selected by the judges to advance, the “Jacktown Fair Go’ers Votes” will send a third contestant to finals night and a chance at the prize money as well.
Complete rules, details and entry forms for the “Jacktown Fair Idol” competition are available online at www.jacktownfair.org. For more information, call 724-627-2040.
Admission to the Jacktown Fair is free, with advance weekly passes available at a cost of $40 (pass includes rides and grandstand events).
The Jacktown Fair began in 1866 by the Richhill Agriculture, Horticultural, and Mechanical Society. Historian Earle R. Forrest once reported that the Jacktown Fair is the second oldest fair, with a continuing record of unbroken exhibitions in the United States, and the oldest in Pennsylvania.
The Richhill Agricultural Association conducted the fair every year in August or September during the 1906-1915 decade. The fair featured agricultural exhibits, races, and other forms of entertainment.
One of the Jacktown Fair’s famous slogans is “You can’t die happy ’til you been to the Jacktown Fair.”