Barstow, MD – No sooner had the gates opened than the wind, cold and rain commenced, greeting opening night attendees to the 2014 Calvert County Fair.
The Wednesday night, Sept. 24 and Thursday morning, Sept. 25 fair attendees, few in number that they were, still found plenty to see.
The Wednesday night opening ceremony was held at the fairgrounds’ pavilion. The winner of the 2013 Calvert Idol contest, Jennalyn Yon, sang The Star-Spangled Banner and God Bless America, the Northern High School NJROTC Honor Guard presented the colors and Huntingtown United Methodist Church Pastor Keith Schukraft rendered the invocation.
County native Dana Jones delivered opening remarks, recalling his experiences of growing up in Calvert’s agrarian community. Jones indicated the hard summertime farm work was always rewarded with an enjoyable county fair, an event he said was about “family, faith and fun.”
Due to the rain, the anticipated start-up of the popular carnival rides was scrubbed.
The drizzle returned Thursday morning but the county’s senior citizens and physically challenged still were able to enjoy live entertainment by Jim Rockin’ Elvis Goddbold in the main building. The red hat parade and senior king and queen pageant also took place. The fair’s 2014 Golden Lady was Christine Fischer while the title of Silver Fox was awarded to Jerry O’Neil.
The extended weather forecast indicates the sun will eventually make an appearance at the Calvert Fair. Friday is Youth Day, with county public schools closed for students, Saturday is Family Day and Sunday—the final day of the fair—is Military Day.
A reminder to motorists about the special Route 231 traffic plan that will be in effect Friday, Sept. 26; Saturday, Sept. 27 and Sunday, Sept. 28. No vehicles will be allowed to turn left off of Route 231 into the fairgrounds during fair hours. An alternate route would be to use Route 506 (Sixes Road) to Route 508 (Adelina Road) to Route 231, which would allow a right turn into the fairgrounds. Should the parking at the fairgrounds be filled to capacity, satellite parking will be available Friday at Hallowing Point Park and Saturday and Sunday at the College of Southern Maryland Prince Frederick Campus. Free shuttle bus service will be available to those using satellite parking all three days.
Contact Marty Madden at marty.madden@thebaynet.com
