CENTRE HALL — There are many state fairs across the country. One, the New York State Fair, happens to be near where my wife grew up. She could not wait to show me “her fair” after I had talked about “my fair.” Her brother had worked as an employee of the state fair, and her mother had worked in one of the stands selling food, and she had attended the fair growing up.
Now I had to explain to her that my fair was a little different from her fair. I explained to her the Centre County Grange Encampment and Fair was essentially the biggest family reunion ever. A family reunion for 1,000 tenting families and 1,500 RVers who flock to the fairgrounds every year for food, fun and the chance to catch up on the lives and doings of those people who they only see once a year.
Events that happened over the last year are celebrated — weddings, births, deaths, winning performances, all the things families experience. Old stories are retold, as best they can be remembered, and the subject of those stories blushes again, just as they had the last time the story was told. Of course, some stories tend to be embellished over time.
My family is no exception. Each Sunday of the fair, we, the Zubler family, have a covered-dish picnic at my Uncle John’s farm.
I have family living literally across the country. The only time I see some of them and their children is at the fair and then at the picnic.
Some families hold their family reunion at the tent or RV site. One such family is the Emery/Eberhart/Hearn family. The family tent is on row “North 10” of the tenting area. Each Sunday of the fair, they have a potluck lunch. Some years 35 members may show. This year they had 22 family members congregate at the family tent.
One family member told me she and several others were from North Carolina and that there were members from Ohio and western Pennsylvania.
Dan Eberhart and Maude Emery rented the first tent for the family. Alice Emery, a member of the family, related that an uncle got the call from the fair tenting secretary that a space had opened up and if they could get their “fair furniture” together and move in the tent was theirs. That was 61 years ago. Dan, now 91 years young, was there this Sunday enjoying all the family members in attendance. The table was filled with food and all seemed delighting in the meal and the company.
The fair administration used to keep a list of people who wanted to rent a tent. When a space would open, the first person on the waiting list was notified they could move in. General manager of the fair Darlene Confer once told me that when the wait list had 20 years’ worth of people wanting a tent, they threw out the list.
Whether it is a cousin from halfway across the country or the tent occupant next to you who happens to live in just the next town across the mountain, this is the time to say hello, renew the friendships and enjoy the blessings of family and community.
