Orange County Fair (New York)
The Orange County Fair is an annual fair held in the town of Wallkill, New York. The fair began as an agricultural exhibit in 1843 and was permanently located in the Wallkill–Middletown area in 1857.
The fairgrounds are also home to the Orange County Speedway, where they hold stock car races and demolition derbies during the summer months. It is the oldest continuously operating dirt track in the United States. In 1919, a group staged an automobile race during the annual fair. The first race was a huge success, and auto racing has been an integral part of the fairgrounds ever since.
There were no races from 1942-1945 because of WWII. Auto racing was suspended "for the duration" because of shortages of gasoline, steel, aluminum, and rubber. Ever since then, OCFS has been operating every Saturday night from April to August.
The track also hosts the annual Eastern States Weekend, where dirt modified, 358- modified, and sportsman drivers race their cars in 200 (modified), 150 (358s), and 50 lap races. The weekend usually falls in mid-October. This is the end of the racing season for most regulars at the track.
Unfortunately, the fair no longer maintains its original rural themes such as 4-H and Future Farmers of America exhibits, the focus today is more on the midway games and amusement rides. Future Farmers of America hasn't been a part of the fair for a number of years and in 2012, 4-H pulled out as well.
Read more about Orange County Fair (New York): Westwood One / Pepsi Concert Series
Famous quotes containing the words orange, county and/or fair:
“I’d take the bus downtown with my mother, and the big thing was to sit at the counter and get an orange drink and a tuna sandwich on toast. I thought I was living large!... When I was at the Ritz with the publisher a few months ago, I did think, “Oh my God, I’m in the Ritz tearoom.” ... The person who was so happy to sit at the Woolworths counter is now sitting at the Ritz, listening to the harp, and wondering what tea to order.... [ellipsis in source] Am I awake?”
—Connie Porter (b. 1959)
“Hold hard, my county darlings, for a hawk descends,
Golden Glamorgan straightens, to the falling birds.
Your sport is summer as the spring runs angrily.”
—Dylan Thomas (1914–1953)
“All the aspects of this desert are beautiful, whether you behold it in fair weather or foul, or when the sun is just breaking out after a storm, and shining on its moist surface in the distance, it is so white, and pure, and level, and each slight inequality and track is so distinctly revealed; and when your eyes slide off this, they fall on the ocean.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)