Crawford County Fair

My 20-Minute Walk Through the Crawford County Fair

I have to admit it: I was actually looking forward to visiting the 2024 Crawford County Fair.

While I’m at my day job, I have the radio tuned to “Cool” 101.7 in Meadville, on which the DJs had a booth there and  promoted many of its offerings.

It sounded like there was a lot going on, so I was only too tempted to visit.

It’s literally been decades since I last attended the Crawford County Fair.  I mean, maybe like the late 1960’s or 1970’s, when I, as a very young boy, my parents took me there. I remember holding someone’s hand as we walked what seemed like miles going up a hill to finally reach the site of the fair. And I remember it being crowded. Very crowded. People everywhere.

That’s it.

I think it may have been the year when Ken Curtis, who played “Festus” on “Gunsmoke” made a personal appearance there, but my father always disavowed that the actor was ever there at all. That’s all I remember from my first and only visit to this annual local institution.

But this year was gonna be different.  

I went online and planned out my Saturday visit, which events I wanted to see, and what time they occurred. A demolition derby at 2 pm. A rabbit run at 3 pm. And an acrobatic show at 4 pm.

And eating all that unhealthy fair food in between!

Yum!

All I had to do was get done with work early enough to catch the demolition derby.

Easy, right?

Wrong!

I was irked that I got out of work at two pm—the exact time the demolition derby commenced.  

But before that, I also had to find a gas station and fill up.

Then, for some reason, the GPS apps I usually use for directions were on the fritz. So I decided to just wing it and hopefully see some road signs promoting the fair and maybe my GPS would stop acting wonky in the meantime. I vaguely knew that the fair was north of Meadville, somewhere on Leslie Road.

But where was that?

Finally, after using a third GPS app on my phone, it led me to the site of the Crawford County Fair. Bummed as I was that I was missing my first actual demolition derby. I could only imagine the vehicles chasing and ramming into one another.

(Seriously, is there any other nation in the world that could’ve dreamt this “sport” up but America?  God bless the U.S.A!)

Paying only $8 for admission, I followed others inside while searching for some kind of guidance to lead me to the derby. I needn’t have bothered. The sounds of vehicles crashing into one another and an announcer emceeing the smash-and-crash, led me toward the grandstands in the distance.

Having eaten only two granola bars and a small apple from a tree for breakfast, I realized I was hungry. But as I walked past the food stands and trucks offering various items to the fair goer, I soon realized I wasn’t going to be eating here!

I was actually shocked at the cost of foods that people love to eat when they visit: Funnel cake: $10.00! Elephant ears: $10.00! Bag of cotton candy: $7.00!

I was almost more thirsty than I was hungry and spied a sign for lemonade for $6.00.  Though not outrageous, I wondered how much lemonade I’d get for my money. A thimble full?

Well, so much for eating fair food, I told myself as I marched ever closer to the grandstands and the demolition derby.

Once I finally got there, I was greeted by a lady who asked for my ticket.

“A ticket?” I asked.  “I thought the derby was free with the cost of admission.”

“Nope, it’s extra,” she explained.

“Can I still buy a ticket from you?”

“No, we don’t sell’em here. You got to go to the ticket booth.”

“Well, where’s that?” I asked, exasperated and looking at my watch that read 2:30.

She gave me some vague directions that I knew I’d forget once I left her, which I did.

I kept walking though, hoping to find another entrance to the grandstand where maybe they sold tickets or locate the ticket booth.

Soon, I came upon another entrance with another ticket taker and got the same story.

Though I spotted the ticket booth just after leaving her, I begrudgingly walked past it, knowing that the derby by now was pretty much over.

“Okay, but there’s still the 3 pm bunny run, right?” I thought, trying to switch gears and save the day for myself.

But where was it?

I walked past a lot of “ag” barns before and after getting to the grandstands, but I didn’t see any signs anywhere promoting any events.

I was getting very discouraged. And very hungry. But not enough to eat at these ridiculous, jacked-up prices.

I trudged on. Far past any ag barns for the bunny run, I decided I wasn’t going to retrace my steps.  “Just keep walking,” I told myself, discouraged at all I’d experienced.  Now, I gave up, too, on the bunny run.

I was tired from work and realized even if I could find the site for the acrobatic display, I wasn’t going to wait around an hour-and-a-half for it on an empty stomach.

As I walked further, it seemed liked the paved asphalt walkway that I treaded on arced outward toward Leslie Road that brought me here. I remembered seeing the grandstand building from the road when I arrived. This walkway must lead to another fair exit, I surmised.

It did.

I left the fair disappointed at not being able to see—or find or wait—for the events I was kinda psyched to watch.

But I was only out $8, I told myself.

But I was still hungry, fair food prices be damned!

Ravenous, I drove back into Meadville I stopped at Little Caesars and got a whole pizza for only six bucks! Then, I stopped at a beer distributor and got a blackberry slushy, in which to drown my sorrows (which I, of course, consumed after I got home…)

That said, maybe I’ll visit the 2025 Crawford County Fair next year, but don’t count on it.

But if I do, I’ll wear more comfortable shoes for another 20-minute march around the fairgrounds.

And remember to eat before I get there!

***G. Greenleaf

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