Aug 10, 2016 5 min read

Washington County Agricultural Fair week is publicized as lasting from Saturday through Aug. 20, but fair officials want the public to know that this year there will be an extra evening preview Friday.

“We have switched midway companies,” said Wayne Hunnell, fair board secretary, “The gates should open by 4 p.m.”

Fair preview visitors will be charged no admission fee, and there will be an antique tractor pull at the grandstand from 5 p.m. to 11 p.m.

Amusement rides and carnival games are expected to be up and running during the preview, and although there is no admission fee to enter the fairgrounds, anyone who wants to take a spin on a Ferris wheel, rotate through a Tilt-a-Whirl or avail themselves of other thrills from Powers and Thomas Midway Entertainment, based in Wilmington, N.C., will have to pay $5.

Hunnell expects Powers and Thomas to operate a ticket booth on the midway at the Friday preview to collect its $5 fee.

Children aged 4 and under are entitled to enter the fairgrounds for free any day of the fair, but if they want to board midway rides, they must buy a $4 ride ticket.

Color-coded wrist bands – the color of which will change daily – are new this year for midway riders.

“It’s a little different than in the past,” Hunnell said. “We didn’t use wrist bands before.”

Not all buildings will be open because judging of exhibits will be taking place Friday evening in the halls, but the fair board expects some food vendors to be open.

From Saturday through Aug. 20, the price of admission to the fair will be $10 per person, up $1 from last year’s ticket price. There are, however, exceptions.

Those who purchase week-long fair passes must get a color-coded stamp if they leave the grounds but expect to return the same day. The price of weekly or daily passes do not include midway rides. Passholders can purchase a separate ride ticket for $4.

Senior citizens age 62 and older can enter the fairgrounds for free Monday but senior midway riders must pay $4.

On Aug. 19, children ages 12 and under gain free admission to the fairgrounds until 4 p.m., and the cost of their midway ride tickets will be $4.

A professional rodeo will perform at 7 p.m. Saturday, at the grandstand. Side-by-side and four-wheel-drive quads will be featured at the same hour Sunday. Monday’s schedule brings pro stock tractors and hot semis, while Tuesday is reserved for monster trucks. Senior high marching bands will perform at 6 p.m. Wednesday, followed by a school bus demolition derby at 8 p.m.

The Charlie Daniels Band will return to Washington County Agricultural Fair on Thursday. Admission to the grandstand for the warmup act, Ruff Creek, from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m., followed by the featured Charlie Daniels, who turns 80 later this year, will be included in the price of fairgrounds admission.

But Hunnell explained that those who want to stand on the track during Daniels’ concert, expected to begin around 8 p.m., will have to pay an additional $5 charge.

If the weather cooperates, Hunnell expects a big crowd.

“I understand this place was jammed,” he said of Daniels’ 1999 performance and guessed that the band could draw an audience of more than 15,000.

Daniels’ 1979 hit, “The Devil Went Down to Georgia,” went platinum and won a Grammy award for best country vocal. It was also part of “Urban Cowboy” movie sound track. Daniels has since written the book, “Ain’t No Rag (Freedom, Family and the Flag)” and recorded gospel, bluegrass, children’s and Christmas albums and toured overseas U.S. military bases.

He was invited to become a member of the Grand Ole Opry, into which he was inducted in 2008.

Street stock trucks will be the Aug. 19 grandstand attraction at 7 p.m. and a demolition derby wraps fair week at that hour on Aug. 20.

For those who want to chow down at the fair, new offerings include spiced Italian beef and Italian desserts, a chain-driven corn roaster with a butter bath and optional spices plus baked and sweet potatoes and gourmet hot dogs with a variety of toppings.

A wood carver will work before an audience and the creations will be auctioned. Proceeds last year raised $4,225 for the Autism Speaks charity while the donation in honor of fair board member Audra Brigich was $3,335 for the American Cancer Society designated for breast cancer research. This year’s charity is to be announced.

Washington County History and Landmarks Foundation, at the John White House on the fairgrounds, will feature the display, “Local Connections to the Underground Railroad” from noon to 9 p.m. Saturday, through Aug. 20. Once fairgoers pay admission to the fairgrounds, there is no additional admission fee to enter the John White House, 2151 N. Main St.

Promoting this year’s theme began with a luncheon at Breezy Heights Tavern and a walking tour of West Middletown. Although 45 people were expected, 65 showed up.

Sandy Mansmann of the Washington County History and Landmarks said, “Pretty much everybody knows about the LeMoyne House,” so the foundation wants to focus on lesser-known underground railroad sites such as Monongahela, West Alexander and West Middletown, both of which, before 1863, bordered Virginia; and the stories of blacks helping blacks to escape slavery.

The History and Landmarks organization has borrowed from the Washington County Historical Society the “underground railroad traveling trunk,” which was developed to teach elementary school students.