The Schaghticoke Fair opened on Wednesday. With roughly 100,000 people expected to pack the grounds over the next six days for food and fun, organizers want attendees to know there’s a lot to learn at the fair. As WAMC reports, the annual tradition is sticking to its rural roots.
Rensselaer County and City of Troy historian Kathy Sheehan says the fair hasn’t always been about fast rides and freaky foods.
“It was a great way in the 19th century for to show off new techniques, new trends in farming and new equipment,” Sheehan said.
Sheehan adds that the typical fair season, late summer, isn’t a coincidence.
“Farming, it's a 24-hour business. So, it's not like you can just break away and they even schedule things around, you know, harvest times and things like that,” Sheehan said. “So, there's a reason why it's the dates that it is. And, you know, this was, you know, before things have to harvest. So, you can actually get away for a little bit to come to the fair.”
She says the fair organizers still work to tie in agriculture and horticulture.
“There's always new things that are coming up, and land issues and conservation issues of farmland and farming techniques,” Sheehan said. “So those are still being practiced. You just need to go and visit those buildings, so come to this side of the fair before you go take rides.”
As fairgoers file in, equestrians and farmers are getting ready to show off their skills. They made their way to the fairground off of Route 67 in the early hours to prepare.
13-year-old Sophia Young goes to nearby Hoosic Valley Middle School. She’s been in 4-H for a few years, riding and caring for a bay Welsh Morgan Cross horse named Sassafras, AKA Kiki.
Young rides English and Western.
“She's also a really good Western horse, because she has the gallop down and everything,” Young said.
However, it’s not all about the horse. The rider plays a large part in the judging, too.
“You need to have a black coat. It's just for, like, cleanliness, and it has to all be like, you know, proper,” Young said. “You need a helmet, usually a helmet cover, mine's gone. And you need to have half chaps and boots, or tall boots, and then some tan pants. And you need an undershirt and a belt. The undershirt can be white, gray, purple, anything, just like calm, neutral colors.”
As the riders get ready to show their horses, they line up outside the barn. Young says it takes a few years to really get to know your horse and how to handle it.
“We're being judged on how well you and your horse like act together, and how well you are harmonious together. How well your position is and basically just how you work together,” Young said.
In a class of 14 being judged for showmanship, Young scores a red ribbon.
To Young, 4-H means having fun.
“Be friends, say hi to people. It's all about your community,” Young said. “And this week is super fun, because there's a bunch of people, and they get to pet our horses, and they get to walk around the fair.”
Young says she and Kiki will participate in the two-day showing at the fair.
Bernie Wiesen is the Executive Director for the Rensselaer County Cornell Cooperative Extension. Wiesen, who runs the equine 4-H and teen exchange program, says the program gives kids the opportunity to explore interests outside of the classroom.
“They’re garnering some really important life skills that they can take with them, not just in the 4-H ring or in the 4-H building over there with their baked cookies or their sewing projects, but they're really transitioning those skills. They're learning about doing their research, about partnering with a good adult to help guide them feeling some purpose so that they are transferring those skills, hopefully in the classroom later on in career choices, etc.,” Wiesen said.
4-H has partnered with the fair for roughly half of its 205 years. Wiesen says attendees at the rural fair can interact with animals and lifestyles that may be unfamiliar. 4-H utilizes buildings on the fairgrounds for several months out of the year, not just during fair season.
Carly Reyna Ostrander is the fair manager. She says while many people think of the fair as just a place to come and ride rides and have deep-fried delicacies, it’s also a place to learn.
“We try to give them a good time, things like the stingrays, the concert, these sorts of things,” Ostrander said. “But then we try that kind of trick them into learning something about ag (agriculture), while they're here, where does your food come from? What is sustainable? You know, farming and growing. How do farmers care for these animals?”
New York Governor Kathy Hochul signed three pieces of legislation on Wednesday to boost the state’s agriculture sector. The new laws allow the leasing of state land for maple sap production and tree tapping, allow licensed farm wineries to use apples grown outside of New York to manufacture or sell state-labeled cider in certain circumstances, and establish a state Beginner Farmer Advisory Board on Agriculture. The Democrat praised New York’s farmers during a visit to the State Fair in Syracuse.
“It’s the love of land. It's the opportunity to just be with their families, connected. One time, I met five generations, all at once, of people who are still working on our farms, and we have to do everything we can to make it easier for them,” Hochul said. “And I want to continue focusing on them as we continue our legislation.”
Both fairs run through Labor Day.
