The 225th Anniversary celebration brings an exciting, expanded lineup to the Washington County Agricultural Fair By Michele Gillis As the aroma of funnel cake, barbeque and corn dogs waft through the air as you enter the annual Washing- ton County Agricultural Fair, make sure you get ready to have some fun! The fair takes place Aug. 12-19. and will be celebrating its 225th anniversary in a big way with many fun events planned during the the eight day celebration including a demolition derby, daily petting zoos, nightly concerts, daily magic shows, baking contests, tractor pulls, mar- ket livestock sales, cheese auctions and so much more. The biggest addition to this year's schedule is that there will be a 225th Anniversary Parade at 2 p.m. on Sunday, August 13. "The parade will be organized in our large parking lot, come down a small portion of Main Street into the main gate of Fairgrounds and around in front of the grand- stands," said Wayne Hunnell, Washington County Ag- ricultural Fair Board Secretary. "There will be a stage where Carole DeAngelo, director of advertising and events for the Observer-Reporter, will announce who is coming through and what group they are representing." They have not had a parade during the fair in over 15 The Midway carnival and games will be open from 3-11 years, so it will be a new event for many fair attendees. In honor of the 225th anniversary, there will be a muse- um-type equipment display in the Expo Hall featuring equipment spanning from horse-drawn equipment all the way up to modern-day tractors and balers. p.m., except on Saturdays when they will open at 1 p.m. In the spirit of keeping fairgoers happy, Hunnell said they had an outside company do a survey three years ago to see what brought people to the fair. "We have quite a bit of equipment coming into that area for display," said Hunnell. "We are trying to orga- nize it by year, or at least by decade, so it will show the change and type of equipment over the years." Another new change this year is that the opening cer- emony will take place on Sunday evening instead of Saturday. The opening ceremony will be followed by a concert by Six Gun Sally at 7 p.m. The grand finale of the evening will be headliner coun- try music superstar Russell Dickerson who will take the stage at 8:30 p.m. to end the evening with a bang. Hunnell said so far they have already sold over 110 ad- vanced stage-front tickets for fans to see Dickerson, so additional ticket sales for that concert are going well. "We moved things around a bit," said Hunnell. "We will have the animals brought in a day or two early to get them in ahead of all of this to be able to make those changes and have the parade, opening ceremonies and concert on Sunday night." Also inside the Expo Hall will be various vendors set up for fair attendees to visit to learn information about agricultural topics, conservation, political topics or to purchase various products such as sunglasses, t-shirts, jewelry and more. Hunnell said there were so many vendors, they end- ed up with a waiting list of people wanting to secure booths inside the hall for the 225th Anniversary. "Our mission is to promote agriculture, teach agricul- ture and show what goes on," said Hunnell. "We want to educate people on agriculture and where their food comes from." agricultural side of the fair, which includes space for market livestock to be seen and auctioned off on Fri- day and Saturday. During the week of the fair, animals of different species are showed each day. The fair board works with the 4-H clubs to run the Hunnell said the animals will get auctioned off with the proceeds going to those exhibitors unless the buyer wants to donate it back to the 4-H Scholarship Fund or back to the Washington County Fair organization, which is a 501c3 non-profit organization. "The largest percentage of people attending said they were here to view the animals, watch the kids show their animals and showmanship of the various spe cies," said Hunnell. "The second largest percentage were coming for the food. This year, there will be food all over the place." There will be a large food court with a canvas roof with 26 picnic tables available for seating. On the sides of the food court, there are serving windows where various vendors will be selling food. Their grills or fryers will be located within those booths so people can order their food and wait at the picnic tables for their order," said Hunnell. Overall, there will be around 25-30 food vendors at the fair including Hogs Fathers and Route 40 Deli who will be serving a variety of foods between the food court, food trailers and one air-conditioned indoor space. There will be wine and spirits offered by three or four vendors who will be serving from 5-11 p.m. daily. According to Hunnell, the busiest night of the week is usually Wednesday evening when they hold the school bus demolition derby. "We have 12 school district marching bands performing three or four songs that night starting around 6 p.m." he said. "When that is over we have the school bus demolition derby. There is a huge crowd that night. I think this past year we had around 13,000 people here." Hunnell said the schools come out the Wednesday be- fore the fair starts and paint and decorate their busses according to the pre-determined theme. "The school whose bus wins the derby is awarded $500," said Hunnell. Hunnell said fair attendees can park in Trolley Museum parking lot and ride the trolley for a nominal fee. RUSSELL DICKERSON "They can board the trolley there and it will drop them off right at the gate," said Hunnell. "At the end of the day or when they are ready to leave, they just have to walk back down to the loading platform and they can take the trolley back to their vehicle." If tickets haven't been purchased in advanced on the fair website, people can purchase a ticket in the trolley lot or at the main gate. in order to expedite entrance to the fair, this year, they are creating separate entrance lines for advance ticket holders, since the line to buy tickets is usually fairly long. "They can just come to a separate line where it is a matter of seconds to get their ticket scanned and they can just walk right on through," said Hunnell. Visit washingtonfair.org for more information. Sponsored content brought to you by 325 ANNIVERSARY WASHINGTON COUNTY PA AGRICULTURAL Fair PRESENTED BY EOT The 225th Anniversary celebration brings an exciting , expanded lineup to the Washington County Agricultural Fair By Michele Gillis As the aroma of funnel cake , barbeque and corn dogs waft through the air as you enter the annual Washing ton County Agricultural Fair , make sure you get ready to have some fun ! The fair takes place Aug. 12-19 . and will be celebrating its 225th anniversary in a big way with many fun events planned during the the eight day celebration including a demolition derby , daily petting zoos , nightly concerts , daily magic shows , baking contests , tractor pulls , mar ket livestock sales , cheese auctions and so much more . The biggest addition to this year's schedule is that there will be a 225th Anniversary Parade at 2 p.m. on Sunday , August 13 . " The parade will be organized in our large parking lot , come down a small portion of Main Street into the main gate of Fairgrounds and around in front of the grand stands , " said Wayne Hunnell , Washington County Ag ricultural Fair Board Secretary . " There will be a stage where Carole DeAngelo , director of advertising and events for the Observer - Reporter , will announce who is coming through and what group they are representing . " They have not had a parade during the fair in over 15 The Midway carnival and games will be open from 3-11 years , so it will be a new event for many fair attendees . In honor of the 225th anniversary , there will be a muse um - type equipment display in the Expo Hall featuring equipment spanning from horse - drawn equipment all the way up to modern - day tractors and balers . p.m. , except on Saturdays when they will open at 1 p.m. In the spirit of keeping fairgoers happy , Hunnell said they had an outside company do a survey three years ago to see what brought people to the fair . " We have quite a bit of equipment coming into that area for display , " said Hunnell . " We are trying to orga nize it by year , or at least by decade , so it will show the change and type of equipment over the years . " Another new change this year is that the opening cer emony will take place on Sunday evening instead of Saturday . The opening ceremony will be followed by a concert by Six Gun Sally at 7 p.m. The grand finale of the evening will be headliner coun try music superstar Russell Dickerson who will take the stage at 8:30 p.m. to end the evening with a bang . Hunnell said so far they have already sold over 110 ad vanced stage - front tickets for fans to see Dickerson , so additional ticket sales for that concert are going well . " We moved things around a bit , " said Hunnell . " We will have the animals brought in a day or two early to get them in ahead of all of this to be able to make those changes and have the parade , opening ceremonies and concert on Sunday night . " Also inside the Expo Hall will be various vendors set up for fair attendees to visit to learn information about agricultural topics , conservation , political topics or to purchase various products such as sunglasses , t - shirts , jewelry and more . Hunnell said there were so many vendors , they end ed up with a waiting list of people wanting to secure booths inside the hall for the 225th Anniversary . " Our mission is to promote agriculture , teach agricul ture and show what goes on , " said Hunnell . " We want to educate people on agriculture and where their food comes from . " agricultural side of the fair , which includes space for market livestock to be seen and auctioned off on Fri day and Saturday . During the week of the fair , animals of different species are showed each day . The fair board works with the 4 - H clubs to run the Hunnell said the animals will get auctioned off with the proceeds going to those exhibitors unless the buyer wants to donate it back to the 4 - H Scholarship Fund or back to the Washington County Fair organization , which is a 501c3 non - profit organization . " The largest percentage of people attending said they were here to view the animals , watch the kids show their animals and showmanship of the various spe cies , " said Hunnell . " The second largest percentage were coming for the food . This year , there will be food all over the place . " There will be a large food court with a canvas roof with 26 picnic tables available for seating . On the sides of the food court , there are serving windows where various vendors will be selling food . Their grills or fryers will be located within those booths so people can order their food and wait at the picnic tables for their order , " said Hunnell . Overall , there will be around 25-30 food vendors at the fair including Hogs Fathers and Route 40 Deli who will be serving a variety of foods between the food court , food trailers and one air - conditioned indoor space . There will be wine and spirits offered by three or four vendors who will be serving from 5-11 p.m. daily . According to Hunnell , the busiest night of the week is usually Wednesday evening when they hold the school bus demolition derby . " We have 12 school district marching bands performing three or four songs that night starting around 6 p.m. " he said . " When that is over we have the school bus demolition derby . There is a huge crowd that night . I think this past year we had around 13,000 people here . " Hunnell said the schools come out the Wednesday be fore the fair starts and paint and decorate their busses according to the pre - determined theme . " The school whose bus wins the derby is awarded $ 500 , " said Hunnell . Hunnell said fair attendees can park in Trolley Museum parking lot and ride the trolley for a nominal fee . RUSSELL DICKERSON " They can board the trolley there and it will drop them off right at the gate , " said Hunnell . " At the end of the day or when they are ready to leave , they just have to walk back down to the loading platform and they can take the trolley back to their vehicle . " If tickets haven't been purchased in advanced on the fair website , people can purchase a ticket in the trolley lot or at the main gate . in order to expedite entrance to the fair , this year , they are creating separate entrance lines for advance ticket holders , since the line to buy tickets is usually fairly long . " They can just come to a separate line where it is a matter of seconds to get their ticket scanned and they can just walk right on through , " said Hunnell . Visit washingtonfair.org for more information . Sponsored content brought to you by 325 ANNIVERSARY WASHINGTON COUNTY PA AGRICULTURAL Fair PRESENTED BY EOT