Fred Eggers, who has been a guest blogger for us and also serves as one of our docents, also has a seat on the Fair Board. After last year’s fair, he claimed that it had the largest attendance of all time. He said there were over 30,000 people who attended, although I think it is impossible to get a verifiable count. I am by no means an expert, but my impression of the first day of this year’s fair is that it has the potential for being even bigger.
The last 2 years, I have volunteered to be a person who helps organize the Fair Parade where it originates at Immanuel Lutheran Church. Although I really enjoy contributing my services to the success of the parade, it also means that I cannot be located along the parade route to take photographs. That means that some of the photos I will display today were taken by other contributors who came to my assistance. I appreciate their help.
I feel I have already written too much. I’m sure you want to see pictures. First, here are some photos illustrating the preparations being made during the morning hours before the parade began. I especially enjoyed seeing some gentlemen sitting below the Altenburg water tower playing cards to pass the time.
Later, we see the parade participants gathering before the event would start.
The parade grand marshals for this year’s fair are Bill and Nelda Koeberl. I even got in a photo including Bill, Nelda, and a past grand marshal, Steve Meier. After the parade, Bill and Nelda were interviewed by a local TV station.
The parade begins and heads down Main Street towards the fairgrounds.
The parade continues down Main Street. There were 9 bands included in this year’s parade, which may be a record amount.
With the parade over, the crowd settled in at the fairgrounds. I admit that I snuck home for a much-needed nap during the afternoon, and returned to find a mass of humanity gathered around the food and beverage stands, as well as the bandstand with it continuous entertainment.
It’s a morning glorious day in East Perry County. Everything looks like the makings of another record-breaking fair day. It looks peaceful now, but excitement awaits.
