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:
“the great orange bed where we lie
like two frozen paintings in a field of poppies.”
—Anne Sexton (1928–1974)
“I could draw Bloom County with my nose and pay my cleaning lady to write it, and I’d bet I wouldn’t lose 10% of my papers over the next twenty years. Such is the nature of comic-strips. Once established, their half-life is usually more than nuclear waste.”
—Berkeley Breathed (b. 1957)
“Let us have a fair field! This is all we ask, and we will be content with nothing less. The finger of evolution, which touches everything, is laid tenderly upon women. They have on their side all the elements of progress, and its spirit stirs within them. They are fighting, not for themselves alone, but for the future of humanity. Let them have a fair field!”
—Tennessee Claflin (1846–1923)