Commissioners hear about Grange Fair
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BELLEFONTE -- This year marks the 149th Centre County "Great Grange Fair."
Centre Hall Mayor LeDon Young, excitedly shared some of the events with the Centre County Commissioners for the upcoming week-long event.
The Grange Fair is the last tenting fair left in the nation, an annual event featuring live music, games, great food and, above all, a celebration of agriculture.
This year's fair will run from Friday, Aug. 18 to Saturday, Aug. 26, with opening ceremonies to begin Thursday night, Aug. 17.
Though next year -- the 150th Grange Fair -- is a milestone for the event, Young was quick to say, "We don't want to overlook this year."
This year, the fair partnered with 40 local nonprofits including schools, granges, 4-H clubs, preschools, sports teams, churches and many more.
"They sold advance admission tickets for a discount and got $2 for each one sold. We contributed $32,648 to those 40 organizations," said Young.
And that's not all, Young noted another program for nonprofits they've implemented. For every hour a member of a nonprofit group works at the gates, the fair committee donates $10 to their organization.
"Last year one of the organizations with one of the schools made over $1,000 towards their trip," said Young.
Young anticipates thousands of individuals at the fair this year, with families packing into 1,000 tents and 1,500 RVs.
With all of the tents and RVs full, Centre Hall becomes the third largest town in Centre County, according to Young.
"The Visitors Bureau informed us that the economic impact of Grange Park is between 16 and 20 million dollars a year. We're all that, and a great fair, too," said Young.
The age-old tradition of the giant ice cream sundae at the grandstand was brought to a halt during the COVID-19 pandemic, and Commissioner Steven Dershem found a way to keep the tradition alive.
"The nice thing is it's tradition," said Dershem. "Even though we had to tweak it a little bit, we keep that tradition."
The commissioners will be at the fair on "Kids Day," Monday, Aug. 21, at 11 a.m. to pass out cups of Penn State Creamery ice cream in five different flavors. Those flavors are chocolate, vanilla, strawberry, Alumni Swirl and Peachy Paterno.
"I remember the ice cream sundae from when I was a kid," said Commissioner Amber Concepcion. "It has always been such a fun event so I'm glad we're able to continue it on -- even in a slightly less messy fashion."
Next year will be the 150th Grange Fair, and Young hinted that they have big plans.
"We very much want to involve everyone. We're talking about doing a "then and now" book. The changes... Come Friday, we are going to be filmed by National PBS for a program next year," said Young.
"See you all at the Great Grange Fair!" said Young as she left the podium.
Information on the Grange Fair and an extensive list of the events and activities planned can be found on the Grange Fair website, grangefair.com/daily-schedule/
In other news:
-- The commissioners approved a resolution authorizing the submission of an application to the Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development for the Fiscal Year 2023 under the Community Development Block Grant Program.
-- Commissioners have considered approval of a liquid fuels check to Burnside Township in the amount of $20,000 for a drainage improvement project to replace pipes on Main Street, Viehdorfer Road, Sunset Drive and Hilltop Drive.
-- The commissioners approved the advertisement of the request proposals to provide moving services (delivery and pick-up) to each of the approximate 88 polling locations within Centre County for the 2023 Municipal Election.