FREEHOLD TOWNSHIP — The 39th annual Monmouth County Fair that closed Sunday might have featured jousting knights in shining armor, the Hell on Wheels BMX Stunt Show and the bubblegum pop band 1910 Fruitgum Company, but at its heart it was a five-day event about local agriculture and farmers, and the people who live in the area.
New this year was the FFA tent (formerly Future Farmers of America), where members promoted their mission to support agricultural education.
?The FFA tent was selling locally grown produce that you could buy, leave at the tent and pick up on your way out,? said Karen Livingstone, spokeswoman for the Monmouth County Park System. ?They sold out every night.
?We?ve always put a big emphasis on the agricultural aspect, especially with our Home and Garden tent, where anybody can enter vegetables, flowers, baked goods, photography and art work,? she said. ?We like the community of Monmouth County to be involved in the fair.?
They community showed its support just by showing up. By Saturday night the fair had reached its goal of 65,000 visitors at the East Freehold Showgrounds on Kozloski Road.
?We are very, very happy with the attendance,? Livingstone said. ?We?ve been blessed with good weather this year. Attendance and good weather go together.?
The 4-H tents also speak to the county?s history of farms and livestock. The 4-H horse tent had a long line to get in Sunday and the 4-H small animal tent featured many different kinds of rabbits. Families also flocked to the livestock tent to see the goats, sheep, cows and pigs. The 4-H petting farm also was crowded.
Besides the Paragon Jousting knights and BMX bikes, other acts included the motorcycle-themed Fere Thrill Show and the E3 Skateboarding Stunt Show.
Less technical entertainment included the new 4-H rooster crowing contest, a watermelon seed-spitting contest, the Boy Scout-sponsored Pinewood Derby, and annual favorites such as Bwana Jim?s Wildlife Show and racing pigs.
Musical entertainment included The Benjamins, Brian Kirk & The Jirks, the Amish Outlaws and Daddy Pop.
?Visitors have been telling us they love the stage events this year,? Livingstone said. ?Today (Sunday) people are coming in asking for the 1910 Fruitgum Company.?
The band began as Jeckell and The Hydes in New Jersey in 1965 and was famous for such songs as ?Simon Says,? ?May I Take A Giant Step,? ?1, 2, 3, Red Light,? ?Goody Goody Gumdrops,? ?Indian Giver,? ?Special Delivery? and ?The Train.? It regrouped in 2007.
Between the two performances by the 1910 Fruitgum Company, it took David Wagenblast, 10, of Howell less than a minute to eat a large blueberry tart from Wemrock Orchards in Freehold Township and claim the first-place trophy in the Kids? Pie Eating Contest. This is the third year he entered the contest.
?I didn?t eat breakfast, that?s why I was so hungry,? said David, a student at the Taunton Elementary School in Howell. ?This is the first time I won a big trophy like this. I?m going to enter again next year and I?m going to win again.?
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