As if the threat of the Triple E virus wasn’t enough to put a damper on the last weeks of summer, the Rochester Country Fair (RCF) was cut short this year due to the “high” and then later deemed “critical” risk of the mosquito-borne virus, forcing the RCF board of directors to cancel the activities it worked so long and hard to plan for Thursday and Friday.
Nonetheless, the spirit of the Rochester Country Fair was preserved on Saturday and Sunday with two full days of tractor races and pulls, live music, vendors, kids’ activities, and, of course, fried fair food galore.
It wasn’t an easy decision to make, cutting back on the few precious days of the country fair that make Rochester its Rochesteriest of the year, and it was with “heavy hearts” that the RCF board of directors canceled the two days to condense as much of the country fair as possible within the daylight hours of the weekend. It was, of course, all done for the safety of the diehard country-fairgoers who would likely have risked it all just to enjoy an ice cold one to the sound of live music competing with the revving engines of the tractor pulls and the sweet scent of diesel smoke on a warm summer night.
The Wanderer was unable to reach Rochester Country Fair organizer Kelly Morgado after the fair by press time, but we did catch up to her on Sunday at the fair.
Morgado was posted at the entrance to the fairgrounds catching the attention of those arriving and hoping many of them will offer a donation of any amount in lieu of the free entrance this year.
No doubt the impact of this year’s lower turnout and free entrance to the fair will affect next year’s country fair, she said, but given the circumstances, she conceded, “It is what it is.”
By Jean Perry
