Greene County Fair returns to Waynesburg
Katherine Mansfield/Observer-Reporter
Joy Orndoff of Rogersville cheers on her granddaughter, five-year-old Delaney Sprowls of Carmichaels, as she plays to win during her first fair outing. “She really wanted to win a goldfish,” said Orndoff, who attends the fair annually.
Katherine Mansfield/Observer-Reporter
Krysten Debolt, 2021 Greene County Fair Queen, awards Lew Crouse a blue ribbon for his homemade apple pie. What began as a dare has turned into nearly a decade of pie-baking for Crouse.
Katherine Mansfield/Observer-Reporter
Stephanie Washabaugh and her daughters Gabriella and Nia wait patiently for Washabaugh’s husband, John, to compete in the tractor pull Monday evening. The Canonsburg family attends the local county fairs every year.
Katherine Mansfield/Observer-Reporter
Smoke spews as John Washabaugh of Canonsburg drives his John Deere in Monday evening’s tractor pull.
John Washabaugh of Canonsburg speeds his John Deere down the straightaway during Monday evening's tractor pull.
John Washabaugh's wife Stephanie, their daughters Gabriella and Nia, his in-laws and Stephanie's uncle cheer him on during the tractor pull Monday evening.
Katherine Mansfield/Observer-Reporter
Greene County native Molly Gullett gives it her all at the strong man game on the first night of the fair.
A couple strolls hand-in-hand opening night at the Greene County Fair. As the evening wore on, fairgoers lined up to admire the lights from above on the Ferris wheel.
Katherine Mansfield/Observer-Reporter
Derek Hanson celebrates victory at the squirt game. His mom, Kaitlyn Wilson, laughs in disbelief while his dad, Tyler Teagarden, smiles at Derek’s enthusiastic reaction.
Katherine Mansfield/Observer-Reporter
A fairgoer tries to dump the insulting clown at the dunk tank on the first day of the fair. After several summers of scheduling conflicts, the insulting clown returned to Greene County Fair and spent the evening shouting insults at passersby.
After viewing the livestock and browsing the home and garden entries, fairgoers were drawn to the bright lights and excitement of Greene County Fair's carnival games and rides.
You know you’re there before you arrive: A line of cars nearly a mile long leads you to the entrance of the Greene County Fair.
While excitement was palpable, Debbie Stephenson, secretary treasurer, said it was your average night at the county fair.
“We’re low key on Monday nights,” said Stephenson. “We’re just getting back into the swing of things.”
Fairgoers certainly were ready to get back in the swing of things after last year’s annual event was canceled because of the global pandemic.
“I missed it,” said Sadie Wright of Mt. Morris, as she watched the leadline contest Monday evening. Wright spent much of her childhood participating in leadline and said her family never misses the county fair.
“This is a place you make your family,” she said.
Family and tradition were the underlying themes of this year’s fair, where regulars like Tad Hoy reunited with friends and annual fairgoers like Joy Orndoff introduced family to their first fair.
“We show every year,” said Hoy, who runs Driftridge Farms in Spraggs with his wife, Shea, and their daughter, Shera. “Being able to come out and see all our friends, everybody that’s here, we’re family.”
Hoy said the fair is the one time of year most attendees get together, and the camaraderie was missed last year. The Greene County Fair hosted a modified livestock market in 2020, but because of COVID-19, that market was much smaller than this year’s, where Stephenson said entries were up from years past.
Stephenson said though the fair committee was still calculating attendance and entry numbers, entries in the home and garden competitions were also up from previous years. Visitors enjoyed browsing the vegetables and hays, photographs and needlework and garden entries on display.
A new spin on the cake contest tradition drew a crowd Monday evening. This was the first year the angel food cake, apple pie and chocolate cakes were judged live.
“I’m surprised at how many people are showing up,” said Jean Scott, home and garden department chair, as nearly 30 people packed into the barn to watch the live judging. “We’ve got a lot of entries. I wasn’t sure with not having a fair last year. I’m very pleased. It’s nice.”
Ella Gannis, 2019 winner of the Food Channel Network’s Cupcake Championship and owner of Chatty Cupcakes, and Jennifer Adamson, owner of the Waynesburg restaurant Kiln to Table, served as presiding judges.
Krysten Debolt, 2021 Fair Queen, awarded blue ribbons to the pie contest winners, including Lew Crouse, who took first for his homemade apple pie.
Crouse said he began baking on a dare several years ago. He’s been baking and entering pies and angel food cakes since his homemade bourbon apple pie brought home a blue ribbon about six years ago.
Karen Gantle of Point Marion spent most of her Monday at the fair outside the barns watching her husband, Jim, and son, James, try their luck at the games.
“He waits every year for this,” Gantle said, laughing as her son tossed a brightly colored ring. “He loves it, the ring toss.”
Gabby Suppa said her daughter, Ariana, loves the kiddie rides – there’s always a line at the Ferris wheel – and her son, Aamir, is a fan of the tractor pull, which drew crowds Monday evening.
“This is my first tractor pull,” said Bruce Boggs, who traveled from Arizona to watch his niece, Stephanie Washabaugh’s, husband, John, compete.
As Boggs watched the tractor spew smoke with Washabaugh, of Canonsburg, and her two daughters, he added with a smile, “I thought they just put farm boys on a tractor and pulled.”
Fair staples like truck pulls, rides and games, a barnyard petting zoo and live woodcarvings will entertain fairgoers all week long. Stephenson said Wednesday night should be especially exciting: For the first time in 15 years, the fair is hosting ATV drag racing.
Fairgoers are encouraged to grab some fair food during their visit (funnel cake pairs well with racing).
As she watched her kids laugh on a fair ride, Samantha Strahan said her favorite part of the fair was making memories with her family.
“And the lemonade. You can’t forget the lemonade.”