Oldtime fun in Hancock County

NEW MANCHESTER -- The sun came out to greet hundreds of visitors on Saturday at the Hancock County Oldtime Fair at Tomlinson Run State Park.

Roger Stewart Jr., fair board president, said it was the 17th year for the fair at the park. There were 25 vendors selling crafts and food, along with Weirton Medical Center doing health screenings.

There was a “touch a truck,” where kids could climb up into fire trucks, first-responder vehicles and commercial trucks, such as dump trucks.

“Some kids never get a chance to see anything like that up close,” Stewart said.

The first motorcycle night was held on Friday, an event Stewart said he would like to be a regular along with Sunday’s car show.

There were tractor games, a pet contest and the popular pie-eating contests where kids and adults, with arms behind their back, ate a 4-inch cherry or apple pie

Lucius Pratt, 10, son of Andrew and Nicole Pratt of New Cumberland, finished second in the kid’s pie-eating contest.

Asked how it went, Pratt simply said, “Messy,” adding some of the pie got up his nose.

Winners got a gift card to Prime, a Weirton bookstore.

Stewart said the fair is a year-long process, with plans starting in October for next year’s event.

The fair is self-sufficient, even with the $1 admission price and free parking, he said. People got in free on Friday if they brought a canned good, he said. Stewart also said fair board members go door-to-door throughout the year asking for donations and sponsors.

“It is just a little fair,” he said, adding the state donates use of the park, which cuts down on costs.

He said vendors aren’t that hard to get because most of the bigger fairs and festivals are done for the season by the time the Hancock County fair rolls around.

Alan Simpson of New Cumberland was strolling through the fairgrounds.

“It is a nice casual day. It gives us an option on something to do. We thought it would be a good time, and it is,” he said.

Jessica Patterson of Weirton and her 1-year-old daughter, Marley, were checking out the bee hive at the Steubenville-based Buena Vista Honey Farms.

It was her first time at the fair.

“There are plenty of activities for my daughter to do and plenty of food,” she said.

Patterson said her daughter picked out a book to take home at the Hancock County School District activities bus.

One of the food vendors was the New Manchester Volunteer Fire Department. Fire Chief Roger Stewart was manning the cooking of hamburgers. Fish sandwiches also were available, with deep-fried macaroni and cheese wedges.

It is a big fundraiser for the department, which also has fish fries during Lent.

“We are always here at the fair,” he said.

The Hancock County Sheriff’s Department provided a K-9 demonstration.

The fair continues today beginning at 10 a.m., with tractor games, live entertainment, a classic car show from noon until 1:30 p.m. and the Wild World of Animals exhibit at 1 p.m. and 3 p.m.

(Law can be contacted at mlaw@heraldstaronline.com)