Being a vendor is not a free ride
The Great Frederick Fair Inc. and
The Frederick County Agricultural
Society Inc. publish News as a general
information service for its Life Members,
business clients and associates. Additional
information regarding an of the matters
published within may be obtained from
the Administration Office.
Requests, fees all
part of the process
By Evan Ruderman
Middletown High School
BOARD OFFICERS
Joseph F. Devilbiss, Sr. – President
Colby D. Hubble – Vice President
Robert W. Frank – Secretary
Maurice A. Gladhill – Treasurer
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
John E. Bare
Charles B. Cramer
Clyde C. Crum
James S. Grimes
Nancy N. Hendricks
Nancy F. Keller
Jacqueline L. Kreh
John P. Murphy
Jacob R. Ramsburg, Jr.
The Great Frederick Fair Inc.
is a member of:
The Maryland Association
of Agricultural Fairs and
Shows Inc.
The International
Association of Fairs
and Expositions
The Chamber of Commerce
of Frederick County
The Frederick County Tourism Council
The Pennsylvania Association of Fairs
How to Reach Us...
The Administration Office at
The Great Frederick Fair is open
from 8 a.m. - 4 p.m. M – F
301.663.5895 p
301.663.9719 f
www.thegreatfrederickfair.com
Our street address is 797 E. Patrick Street
By mail, address materials to
P.O. Box 604, Frederick, MD 21701
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Photo by First Last
A mother cow bonds over cleaning her new baby who was born late Monday night.
The circle of life never fails
to entertain the fair-goers
By Adrienne Lowery
and Even Moreland
Middletown High School
At the Great Frederick Fair, one of the most
popular attractions is the Birthing Center.
Every year, groups, families and children look
forward to seeing all of the animals that are
born here and this year is no exception.
The birthing center has already been the
site of the births of four calves. Two of the
cows in the birthing center are still expected
to deliver within the next few days as of Tuesday, Sept. 22, while one of them nurtures her
newborn calf.
“Believe it or not, people love the babies
but everyone wants to see one (a cow) give
birth.” Said Veronica Hodges, who works and
maintains the birthing center. Baby animals
might be incredibly cute, but everyone wants
to experience that special moment of one
opening their eyes for the first time.
Some parents believe that it is important
to witness because “it is an introduction to
human birth,” said observer Shannon Green.
Hodges said that once the calves are born,
they return back to the farm, where the farmer “will decide whether or not to sell the
“Believe it or
not, people love
the babies, but
everyone wants
to see (a cow)
give birth.”
-Veronica Hodges
calves.” All of the cows that have given birth
and that are expected to give birth are from
the Char Mar Farms.
The Birthing Center is not only a teaching
facility but it is also the setting where the
newest life at the fair begins. The Birthing
Center is one of the many factors that makes
the Great Frederick Fair great.
Every year, the Great Frederick Fair welcomes back familiar booths and introduces
new stands. Not every vendor can mark their
territory here so easily; each booth has to go
through a certain process to secure a spot in
the fair.
“You have to apply to the fair board, and
they decide whether they want your business
and if they have space for you,” said Denise
Hoover. Hoover works at the Randy’s Candies booth, which has been at the fair for
7 years.
The first thing someone wanting to have a
booth at the fair would do is submit a request
form to the fair. Alice Stevens, office manager
of the fair, said that it was on a “first come first
serve” basis.
“We probably had at least a hundred requests this year,” Stevens said. Only about 25
are accepted, and they are chosen by what
types of vendors they need.
Plots are sold by each 10 feet of frontage, at
675 dollars per plot. “Most of the vendors are
very satisfied with that price,” Stevens added.
Photo by Evan Ruderman
Fair-goers browse the stretch of vendors encompassing the Great Frederick Fair.
When asked, most vendors were very
happy with how the fair treated them and
their booths.
Robert Hensley, who works at the Liberty Lions Club booth, said, “We make more here than
anywhere else.” The Lions Club has used their
booth at the fair for charity for almost 34 years.
Bill Willingham, a server at Layton’s Concessions, was also pleased with the conditions at the fair. “They treat us pretty good,”
Willingham said. He also said that there
have rarely been any problems between the
booth and the fair.
Price of admission ensures safety standards
By Freddy Roberts and Kiley Hill
Middletown High School
Each year, the Great Frederick Fair brings
fun and joy to thousands of families in the tristate area.
Parents and kids spend a great amount
of money throughout this week; not just on
food and entrance, but for the pleasure of
laughs and smiles while security ensures the
safety of the Frederick community.
Parents get as nervous here as they would
at any other park but the safety is still
guaranteed.
“The State Fire Marshall in Frederick inspects all the rides that are in enclosed buildings. Which includes making sure sprinklers
are working and will go off if need be,” said
Sue Hull, Public Relations Coordinator.
A family favorite, the Mardi Gras, is inspected
each year for safety and fire.
Parents know that the ticket pricing is a little lofty; however, that doesn’t stop them from
finding a way to bulk the prices together to
save money.
“We usually go online to do the family four
pack. It’s unlimited, and we can use it all day,”
said Ashton Mullen, member of the Frederick
community.
Melissa Compher, another member of the
community, said she only spends a few hours
at the carnival when buying a wristband.
There are many ways to buy tickets for the carnival aspect of the fair, it’s just a matter of how families choose to spend their money.
“Every morning the fire rescue team gets together for a safety meeting to talk about the rides and
the safety of the people,” said Hull.
Before the fair opens, the security sends in a
list of all the rides to the state of Maryland for
further inspection. All the rides that are submitted have a safety inspection. If the ride(s) are in
an enclosed space, then there will be a fire inspection along with a safety inspection to further
ensure the safety of the riders.
Hull also said, “The inspections are like
they would be for a car in a DMV.”
While deciding how to spend money,
whether it’s actual tickets, wristbands, or
the online family pack, it’s suitable for any
amount of people in one group. Understanding the safety procedure the staff here goes
through every year is extremely important;
there’s no need to worry about the safety of
children or adults.
Let’s Do It! The Great Frederick Fair
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Great grub can be sweet and savory
By Abbe Pannucci
and Aniston Morris
Middletown High School
You can’t come to the Great
Frederick Fair and not follow
your nose to one of the fabulous food stands. With so much
variety of good eats, it’s hard to
choose whether you want sweet,
savory or both. Those with dietary restrictions may find
it harder than most to find
food, but some fair vendors provide options for them as well.
If you have a sweet tooth, places like Southern Concessions,
Pennsylvania Dutch Funnel
Cakes, Cumberland Valley Concessions and the many different
ice cream and snow cone stands
are for you.
At Cumberland Valley Concessions you can indulge in all
the fried foods you love. This
company has been coming to the
fair for thirty years, serving up
their yummy funnel cakes and
fried Oreos. They do; however,
deep fry their food in peanut oil,
which many people who have
nut allergies cannot eat. To warn
Photo by Abbe Pannucci
Carroll Manor Fire Company offers a classic grilled cheese
sandwich with a pickle and tomato soup on the side.
customers, Cumberland Valley
posts a sign with this information. Like Cumberland Valley,
Hemps fries their french fries
in peanut oil, warning customers with an allergy-alert sign.
French fries are not the pride
and joy of Hemps; Pit, BBQ and
roast beef, as well as ham are
the stars of the show. This year
is the company’s thirtieth year
providing fair-goers with delicious BBQ and they do not intend on leaving.
Billy Hemp, colonel to the
Hemps operation said their
roast beef is the best thing to get
if you stop by his family’s stand.
“We have got your grandma’s
soul food at Uncle Moe’s,” said
Cyle Hawkins from Uncle Moe’s
Soul Food.
Customers can enjoy scrumptious catfish and other soul food
at Uncle Moe’s, just like the way
it is down south. If you are vegetarian, don’t fret; the stand
serves healthy salads and veg-
gie wraps as well. They can also
cater to gluten free folks by grilling their famous catfish instead
of frying it.
If you fancy a bit of sweet
and savory visit Carroll Manor
Fire Department’s grilled cheese
shop. They have been serving
varieties of grilled cheese accompanied with soup at the fair
sense 1954.
Martha Houck, president of
the operation said she thinks they
go through at least ten pounds of
cheese on a slow day. Houck added that while their sandwiches
are good, the soup is even better.
She suggests the best way to eat a
grilled cheese would be to dip it in
warm tomato soup.
The fair may be one of
the best places to go for some
good old fried food and BBQ,
and the dozens of choices don’t
always discriminate against
those with dietary restrictions.
No matter where the smell takes
you, there’s something fantastic
to eat here at the Great Frederick Fair.
My Plate looks to educate about nutrition
By Garrett Baker
Middletown High School
The Great Frederick Fair has now introduced a new site that educates the youth
about healthy eating and is a replacement
for the food pyramid of the past; this is the
“My Plate” initiative.
“My Plate” is a close model to the food
pyramid with some minor adjustments installed. It shows how much of each food
group every person should be consuming.
The Great Frederick Fair programs
manager, Karen Crum described the
“My Plate” as an, “educational, interactive
garden.”
The garden is shaped like a plate with
four sections viewers are able to walk
through on a nicely placed gravel path.
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Let’s Do It! The Great Frederick Fair
Each section is filled with various plants,
such as sunflowers, fenced in.
The educational garden was a joint project between two non-profit organizations
and The Great Frederick Fair.
Crum said that the project involved the
Seeds of Life program, United Way of Frederick County Summer Serve, and The Great
Frederick Fair.
The garden not only teaches but can benefit the community as well. All produce and
products produced in the My Plate garden
are given to the food banks or a farmers
market.
The plate is extremely new as Dr. Kimberly Mazaleski said, “its potential is huge…
but right now we are just beginning.”
Frederick County Public Schools has
started to use the “My Plate” inside schools
for the children of today.
One of the main goals of the project is to get
all children and adults eating healthier and living an improved lifestyle all around.
Jeff Longenberger, a tech teacher specialist for grades kindergarten through twelve,
added, “students perform the best when
they’re healthy.”
Longenberger was on a team of individuals
that was behind the design for the “My Plate”
garden.
On Tuesday over 1,500 students from all
over Frederick County are visiting the fair
with schools and the majority of them will
pass the “My Plate” garden.
Through the garden builders and designers are
beginning to reach the youth of today by showing proportions and inserting their program into
FCPS schools as soon as they can.
September 23, 2015 • Volume 1, No. 5
M E D I A
C O R E
NEWSLETTER
Let’s Do It! The Great Frederick Fair!
Egg-citing without the eggs
Birds banned from
the fair this year
By Owen Migdal
Middletown High School
The Great Frederick Fair is as “egg-cellent” as ever, even without birds.
The Department of Agriculture announced on Aug. 25, 2015, that chickens
and other birds are not allowed to be at
any fairs in the United States.
This is the result of the Avian Influenza,
a viral disease affecting birds. Avian Influenza, or bird flu, occurs naturally and may
spread by wildlife.
No human cases of the Avian Influenza
viruses have been detected in the United States, Canada or internationally and
there is no immediate public health concern.
The poultry exhibition policy now says,
“Due to the highly pathogenic Avian Influenza outbreak, out-of-state water fowl
will not be allowed at exhibitions.”
Chicken and poultry that have been
properly handled and cooked is safe to eat.
The affected birds have been quarantined
and will not affect the food supply. In
addition, the movement of poultry from
Canada is restricted and any movement or
poultry products from quarantine zones
one is prohibited.
Nancy Carlisle, the Superintendent of
Poultry at the Great Frederick Fair, said,
“It is carried primarily by Canadian Geese
as they migrate from the north to the
south for the winter. Maryland is one of
Photo by Owen Migdal
Bunnies are put in place of the chickens and other birds that are typically located in the
poultry barn.
the pathways that those geese use. That’s why the
Maryland Department of Agriculture has done
this, to protect the poultry industry.”
States that are directly affected include Arkansas, Missouri, California, Iowa, Idaho, Kansas,
Minnesota, Montana, North Dakota, Nevada,
Oregon, Utah, South Dakota, Washington, Wisconsin and Wyoming.
Poultry infected with the virus exhibit symptoms such as decreased food consumption, huddling, depression, closed eyes, respiratory issues
such as coughing and sneezing, decreased egg
production, watery greenish diarrhea, excessive
thirst, swollen wattles and combs, high mortality rate and sudden death.
To prevent bird flu in your own backyard,
keep distance between pets and outdoor wildlife, do not play with sick or dead birds and do
not spend time with farm animals or exotic
animals without sanitizing yourself afterwards.
If you come in contact with a sick or deceased
bird, wash your hands with soap and water.
Bird owners need to practice good biosecurity, prevent contact between their birds
and report sick birds or unusual bird deaths
to state or federal officials, either through the
Maryland Department of Agriculture.
To report sick birds, call the United States
Department of Agriculture at 1-866-536-7593.
Let’s Do It! The Great Frederick Fair
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