Three-County Fair adjusts mix, adding giant trucks, as four-day event opens Friday

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GORDON DANIELS

Dave Lacourse of D & L Concessions of Northampton, left, and Bill Barbeau, right, wash the canopy of a fried dough and pizza concession this week, getting ready for Friday's opening of the Three-County Fair in Northampton.

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GORDON DANIELS

Bruce Shallcross, superintendent of the Three-County Fair in Northampton, is hoping his event isn't marred by fallout from bad weather or the economy.

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GORDON DANIELS

At the Three-County Fairgrounds in Northampton, Debbie Carpenter, left, and Harmony Johnson, with Rockwell Amusements, set up the "Let's Go Fishin" concession stand. Behind them is the ride "Dizzy Dragons." The four-day fair opens Friday.

NORTHAMPTON - News travels fast in the small world of country fairs. Bruce Shallcross, superintendent of the Three-County Fair, was aware this week of troubles that beset the Marshfield Fair, which closed Sunday.

Days of bad weather and a poor economy, he said, compelled some vendors to leave early. "People were losing their shirts," Shallcross said, shaking his head.

This week, he listened in Northampton as a vendor lamented the poor business in Marshfield. People went on rides, she told Shallcross, but didn't spend money on food.

Shallcross murmured sympathetically, as he watched another vendor hose off a red-and-white striped tent. "People only have so much money to go around," he said. "I hope they're saving it for our fair."

No matter the weather or economy, the 192nd Three-County Fair kicks off Friday for its annual four-day Labor Day weekend run.

And Shallcross, like the 60-plus volunteers who help make the fair tick, are hoping for just the right mixture of good weather and happy crowds to make the fair a success.

As usual, Shallcross said, fair staples will include horse, cattle, and sheep barns, a petting zoo, Grannie's Racing Pigs, tractor pulls, pie-baking contests, demolition derbies, carnival rides, and of course, fair food.

"A lot of people come just for the food," said Shallcross.

As is the case every year, there will also be new elements - the "Aussie Kingdom" exhibit, a traveling show of animals from Australia, an antique engine and tractor show expected to feature 50 vehicles, and, for the first time, a monster truck show.

The tried and the true

For the third year, the fair will host a youth talent show, which organizer Martha Cycz expects will field 18 to 20 acts for the finale Monday at 2:30 p.m. Cycz revived the show in 2007 after a long hiatus, and she said each year since then interest has grown. By now, it has a bit of a following.

"People do come and look forward to it," she said. "I think people like this kind of family-oriented kind of event."

Participants must audition in the fair's music tent Saturday at 2:30. The contest is divided into two categories, a junior division for children 11 and younger and a senior division for 12- to 18-year-olds.

"We're looking for a good variety of talent," she said. "It's always a good show, people come and they really like it."

Over the past two years, acts have included karate and yo-yo demonstrations, bands, dancers and of course, singers.

"We get a lot of singers," she said. "'American Idol' has done wonders as far as people on the singing track."

The contest offers prizes of cash and trophies for both divisions.

Another big draw for the fair, the demolition derby, is held Friday and Saturday nights at 6:30 p.m. Best viewing for the derby is from the grandstands, for which there is a separate entry fee of $5 per person.

Shallcross said the white wooden viewing booths have been sold out for weeks now, largely rented by family members of derby drivers, who like the prime viewing spot.

Another big part of the fair - the midway - will again provide rides and games. They were being set up this week, so they can be ready for state inspectors Thursday, the day before the fair opens.

Shallcross said he makes requests for particular rides from Rockwell Amusements, but in the end, it's the luck of the draw, as this is a busy fair season, and Rockwell supplies several fairs at once. "I asked for bumper cars," he said, looking over the vacant midway Monday.

"They were going to see what they could do," he said with the resigned air of a man who knows he can't always get what he wants.

And the new

George Zgrodnik of Hatfield is pumped about the antique engine and tractor show he's organizing. He's expecting about 50 antiques to be on display on a field that formerly served as midway.

He said it's important in such a show to have engines as well as tractors. "They go together, you know," he said. "The engine was the predecessor to the tractor."

Last year's show fielded 12 vehicles, but Zgrodnik hopes to increase the size and scale of the show this year. "I'm really enthusiastic about the whole thing," said Zgrodnik, whose father was a longtime tobacco farmer in Hatfield.

In addition to tractors, Zgrodnik said there will be some antique engines, including one that will run a machine that shells ears of corn, and runs the kernels through a mill to make cornmeal. "People like to see that old element, years ago that was used in farming," said Zgrodnik. "I think it's kind of neat."

There's one more feature Zgrodnik is jazzed about.

"They'll be parked, but what I'd like to do is once a day have a little parade," he said

For his part, Shallcross also has hopes for the fair's first foray into the realm of the monster truck show, which will be held Saturday, Sunday and Monday at 1 p.m. Shallcross said the event is too loud - with its tricked-out, gigantic trucks crushing cars - to be offered at night.

He said the show will feature drivers who are the cream of the crop in the monster truck show world. There is a grandstand viewing fee of $5 per person for the monster truck show.

Though it's geared to younger people, Shallcross said he thinks the "Aussie Kingdom" show, with its kangaroos, bearded dragon, wallabies and kookaburra, will appeal to all ages. There will be three shows per day.

The weather

For years, Shallcross has made no bones about the fact that weather can make or break a fair. It's something he'd rather not think about, though. "Don't talk about the weather," he said. "We don't talk about the weather until it's right on top if us. I wake up at night thinking about the weather."

Still, in the end, he's well aware that he can't always get what he wants.