217th annual Washington County Agricultural Fair coming up
No ladder required. Darrell Gromo of Unique Services and Applications in Pittsburgh didn’t need a ladder to get to the top of a 100-foot flagpole at the Washington County Fairgrounds recently. Basically, he shinnied up the pole to paint all 100 feet, first with a rust inhibitor then a final coat, just in time for the annual Washington County Fair.
Darrell Gromo paints near the top of a 100-foot flagpole at Washington County Fairgrounds while his father, Richard Gromo, owner of Unique Services and Applications in Pittsburgh, works below.
A week of entertainment, livestock contests and amusements begins Saturday when the Washington County Agricultural Fair kicks off.
The 217th annual fair will bring all the traditional rides, events and foods, but will also offer up a few new tricks this year.
A brand-new event will take place Saturday, according to fair board President Jay Bayer. It will be a timed obstacle course for side-by-side and 4X4 all-terrain vehicles. Entrants will go through a course that has jumps and a water feature, Bayer said.
There will also be other improvements to make the fair a more pleasant experience.
“We upgraded the entire public address system throughout the fairground,” said Bayer.
Saturday, Sunday and Tuesday will be discounted admission days. Admission will be $6 instead of $9 on those days. Monday will be senior citizen day, and guests age 62 and over will receive free admission.
This year’s main entertainment will be country music star Jerrod Niemann. Niemann will perform at 8 p.m. Aug. 20 at the grandstand. The main entertainment typically performs Sunday, but that was moved to Thursday this year to “switch things up,” according to Bayer, and also because it is the most expensive event for the board, and it doesn’t make sense to hold it on a day with discounted admission.
Since Niemann performs Aug. 20, the professional rodeo will now be held Sunday. Bayer said this a good change, and will make the event safer, because officials usually have to clean up all the wreckage from the school bus demolition derby in the same area Wednesday night to create a safe environment for the cowboys and their horses, but there is rarely enough time to get all the debris.
Preparations for the school bus demolition derby Aug. 19 will begin the week before the fair. Today, band members from area schools will paint the buses to be used in the derby as part of a competition to win prizes. The bands will also perform on Aug. 19 before the bus demolition derby.
A returning attraction for this year’s fair will be a chainsaw carver who makes wood sculptures throughout the week. The carvings will be auctioned off Monday and Aug. 20 and 22. Half of the money made from the auctions will go toward building a new show barn, and the other half will be donated to charity.
Bayer said that as long as the weather holds up, the fair should go off fairly well.
“I’m looking forward to everybody coming out and having a good time,” Bayer said.