Fair Enough
This time of year, people are itching to do something Christmasy. It turns out that a county fairgrounds can be a perfect place to enjoy the season—unless you're a Grinch!
I mostly regard the Elkhart County 4-H Fairgrounds as a place where the county 4-H fair happens. If you're like me, you associate the fairgrounds with livestock shows, 4-H project judging and country music concerts. It's the highlight of the summer.
But what about late November and December? Are the county fairgrounds an appropriate place to find the Mean One, gingerbread men and Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer? Apparently so. At least that's what I found on the opening night of the fair's first annual "Holiday Lights" attraction. As visitors drive through the fairgrounds, they come across all of the above characters and many more. The one-mile drive includes two lighted tunnels and a 4-H club display. This is where you can find chickens wearing Santa hats, courtesy of the poultry club, and Dr. Seuss' Cat in the Hat, courtesy of the cat club.
The carnival area features a lighted carousel, Rudolph's Ring Toss and Frosty's Snowcone Stand.
As cars move through the fairgrounds at a snail's pace, drivers can tune in to Froggy 102.7 to hear Christmas songs.
Admission is $10 per car or $15 for a large van. The light display is open Thursdays through Saturdays through Dec. 30. Hours are 6-9 p.m. on Thursdays and 6-10 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays.
Holiday Lights is a great experience for children. They will recognize many of the characters from TV and movies. Even the adults may find themselves staring at the colorful lights.
Shelly Steury, fair manager, said that running a fair is a year-round operation. Fairs look for ways to generate revenue outside of fair week. One example is the use of livestock buildings as winter storage for boats and RVs.
The fairgrounds also doubles as a campground, with several rallies held during the warmer months. Steury said this is another reason why the fair property is an excellent place for Holiday Lights; it has plenty of space, and there are plug-ins everywhere.
Workers started building the displays on Nov. 1. Fair board members came in on weekends and staff stayed late during the weekdays. Steury couldn't say how many total lights were involved; more lights were being added as late as 4 p.m. on the first day, Nov. 30.
The fair is planning something bigger and better next year, according to Steury.
I commend the fair for its first attempt at this, but I do have two objections. First, the fair placed a real, live Santa Claus in the same building that sells tenderloin sandwiches. Talk about sacrilegious! It's just not right to put Santa Claus and his sleigh on food row. But there he was, Old Santa himself, ho-ho-ho-ing and passing out candy canes.
Also on food row, I saw another thing that shouldn't be: the Polar Express had pulled into the station right where the food stand for the Goshen Noon Kiwanis Club sits. The Kiwanis Club produces the most sacred of all fair foods, the 1-Pound Burger. The fair did a marvelous job of creating the illusion of a steam train. Yes, the fair wants guests to imagine they are at the North Pole, but I simply couldn't make that leap. Call me a Grinch, but whenever I'm at the fairgrounds, it's July and I'm in Indiana.