As warmer weather settles in, I’m looking forward to an annual event that stretches back to my earliest memories: summertime fairs and carnivals. Now that the world is returning to some sort of normalcy, there’s news that many of our favorite celebratory events will be back: The Memorial Day Parade in Fulton, the 4th of July Parade and Harborfest in Oswego, the Oswego County Fair in Sandy Creek and, down the road a stretch, the Great New York State Fair.

Though I’ve attended and enjoyed all those festive experiences over the years, I need to go back to my childhood to recount the one that made the biggest impact on me: my hometown of Fulton’s Cracker Barrel Fair. For decades, the end-of-summer event was a highlight for thousands, and through my association with the Fulton Library’s Memoir Project, I’ve learned some of the Fair’s history. And who better to share that history but Vita Chalone, who helped create the Fair in 1966.

Vita’s memoir about her work on that communitywide event included how such an idea came to be. According to Vita, it began with a need. Fulton was due for a new hospital, which meant raising an estimated two and a quarter million dollars. Local businesses, service clubs and individuals donated to support the project, including the A. L. Lee Memorial Hospital Auxiliary, which made a substantial pledge of thirty thousand dollars. When Vita was invited to attend an Auxiliary luncheon to discuss how they would manage to collect that large sum of money, she heard ideas like hosting teas and dinners. “What they need is something big,” Vita thought, “like an old-fashioned fair.” Before she knew it, she was named chairperson of the first Cracker Barrel Fair.

As anyone who has ever been in charge of such a major event knows, a tremendous amount of work goes into it. Vita’s memoir noted “the two dozen local civic and charitable organizations and businesses, as well as the hundreds of individuals who worked so many hours.” That’s the kind of community support needed to create a successful fair. And what a success it was.

I was eleven years old when the first Cracker Barrel Fair welcomed those of us ready for fun and entertainment, a perfect age for making memories. By the time I met Vita, those memories were sketchy at best; a few details seemed forever lost. But she helped me recall the rich cultural experience that made the Fair so special: Ladies dressed in festive peasant dresses and men with string ties and straw hats; the Hobos, a fun-loving group of Fultonians clowning around, entertaining those passing by; games of chance; food from different ethnic worlds – Polish kielbasa, Italian sausage, Pizza Fritta, or good old American donuts and cider; the War Memorial converted into an old-time Country Store, with penny candy, handcrafted dolls and needlework; the many rides, including a towering Ferris wheel.

Vita admitted that founding the Cracker Barrel Fair was a challenge. But she had someone who helped guide her through the steps of making the event a success, at least when it came to accurately representing Fulton’s rich history. As a friend of one of Fulton’s favorite historians, Grace Lynch, who wrote the column “The Way It Used To Be” for The Fulton Patriot, Vita had access to the proud past of our city.

According to Grace, one point of pride was the fact that the original Oswego County Fair took place in Fulton. From 1856 until 1920, our city’s Recreation Park drew people from all over the county and beyond for one of Central New York’s premier summer events. Grace had plenty to share about that fair, much of it first-hand accounts. Here’s some of what she wrote about attending the Oswego County Fair as a child.

“When the Fair opened, there was excitement all over town. With a box full of lunch, we joined the crowd waiting...At the cry, ‘Going right over! Going right over!’ we surged out to climb into the streetcar drawn by a team of horses. Its route extended from Hannibal Street over the lower bridge up First Street and over the upper bridge to the D.L. and W. [Railroad] Station on West Broadway.

“When Tom O’Brien, the [streetcar’s] driver, had collected the five-cent fare from everyone who could squeeze on, he cracked his whip and the horses settled to their work…Arriving at the fair, we fell in line at the ticket window. Then, crossing the dirt race track, we were faced with the difficult choice of what to do and see first.”

Grace goes on to describe those tempting choices: horse races around the dirt track, demonstrations by military troops from Fort Ontario, exhibits of homemade desserts and crafts, and merry-go-round rides. There were also sounds and smells: “The lowing of cattle, the smell of popcorn and roasting peanuts.” Grace remembered tasting her first ever ice cream cone at the county fair. Now who could ever forget a memory like that?

Here in 2022, I’m excited that Fulton is continuing its history of providing great outdoor events. I talked with Chris Waldron, Fulton’s Director of Parks and Recreation, and he gave me a rundown of what to expect in our fair city in the coming months. “We’ll start with our ‘Intro to Bird Watching’ program in April and May. Then Big Truck Day is May14, followed by the Memorial Day Salute, Community Market June 11, Porchfest, and Chalk the Walk on July 10, and culminating with the Fall Festival on Oct 8.”

That’s a whole lot to look forward to now that we can again gather for fun, food and friendship.