Annual weekend draws fairgoers
By Lla Salcicci*
Hr !H> Oregon D»'t f meraKJ
VENETA — Every year for one July weekend,
this small town transforms into one of the largest
povv wows in the Northwest. Last weekend the
25th annual Oregon Country Fair combined food,
crufts, information and entertainment to create
what some call the biggest party of the year.
Hundreds of vendors, entertainers and patrons
turned out Friday through Saturday. The sun
shone upon the crowd, which consisted of chil
dren. teens, adults and senior citizens. There were
many things one could spend money on. but the
entertainment, save for the fair's cover charge, was
free.
There was Tom Noddy, a Country Fair veteran
who blows bubbles for a living. His specialty is
smoke bubbles, aided by cigarettes He told the
crowd at the Circus theater that he tried to quit
smoking except when creating smoke bubbles, but
"it didn't work; I needed a bubble after every
meal."
There were the Rodz sisters, a country duo who
sang songs such as "Take us hack to the men like
the men of Bonanza."
There were the Flying Instruments of Karma
marching band whose repertoire mi luded the
theme song from /fockv and Bullwinkle.
There was Marv Hart, who earnestly sang to the
crowd. "You have to have a penis if you want to be
a priest.”
There were larger bands that performed simul
taneously on the many stages They included left
over Salmon, (amhay and the Sugar Beets
There were vaudevillians who juggled every
thing from clubs to fire Performer David Lichten
stein rode a unicycle while juggling a broom, on
egg and a basketful!).
And if patrons didn't want to slay in one place
for long, they could lie entertained by the parados
given twic e daily, ns well as random musii unis
and performers A small parade that consisted of
seven individuals carrying huge papier-mache
eyes, nose and mouth and that walked through the
crowd manipulating their huge puppet to say "We
love you!" was a real crowd pleaser.
If patrons wanted to learn something, there were
stations like Energy Park, complete with an elec
trie car. solar panels where food was c ooked, and
information on everything from the sure of the
atmosphere to the merits of hemp
Whitebird Medic al Clinic: provided first aid and
medical assistanc e for the sic k or the overdrugged
The Country Fair staff, which was c omprised of
hundreds of individuals, were there to trou
bleshoot whatever problems arose
That way, the patrons could c onc entrate on oth
er issues, like the passer-by who looked earnestly
at her companion and asked. "I have a question
about mv crystal. Should I put it on black or pur
ple satin V
l*N:rto by fbor»A*
Tom Noddy, who 's been biowing bubbles lor 21 years. Is an Oregon
Country Fair veteran and stage act.
Oregon Country Fair after hours where the most fun is at
By Ua Salciccia
f or ifw Oregon Dotty fm&Md
If you live in Oregon. < fiances
arc you have gone to the Oregon
Country Fair at least once If you
haven't, then you have probably
heard others talk about it
And if you've heard others
Reporter s Notebook
talking about
it. most like
lv they spoke
about the part
of the lair not
open to the
general pub
lic — the
i .imping that
involves only
the staff after
everybody
without .1 camping pass goes
home That part, people will tell
vou. is the most lull part of the
lair.
i dot ided to find out just how
fun the after-hours partying real
ly was. 1 muck past "tlie swoop’'
that weeds out people with only
the day passes and < amped both
nights, fins notorious swt-ep ion
sists of about 50 staffers who hold
hands, sing and push everybody
out of the exit at H p in. every
night.
In order to protect others who
might use the same method. I'm
not saving how i did it I will sav
that I didn't sneak in by hiding
m a tent for two hours. I did it for
you. the Emerald readers who
are dying to find out what e\ai t
!y the "best per! I the lair' is all
about
For one thing, there are far less
people In Countrv Fair jargon,
they are called the "fair family
For another thing, after hours is
the tune when most of the fami
ly dts ides to embark on psvi lie
delu journeys.
Hut the main lure of it all.
besides the lai t that camping is
only offered to alt elite crowd,
is the Midnight Show On Satur
day night, a parade winds
through the fairgrounds' Figure
eight and lands on the main
stage, comment ing in a three
hour show Although many of the
performers were the same ones
w ho had heen roaming the fair in
the daytime, the subjet t matter
of their perfonnant es were slight
ly different.
In other words, it could fie con
MVMMDDy inom<i»
Omar Kemyatta (left) plays Ihe piccolo and Jim Diggs plays the drums at lire fair's drum tower Friday
struud that tin- show i aton'd
mostly to thoso who had imhilmd
mind-altoring suhstamos.
Tom Noddy. tht* 'Bubble < >tiy
abandoned his small < an ol huh
hies and five-inch hnhhltt hlow
(>r for a hug« wading pool fillud
w ith soap and a contraption that
allowed him to blow (rubbles that
were up to six fuel long
The show ended in tin- way
tli.it it ulwiivs ends, with Ihr I h
iii|i Karamazov druthers stripping
down to their birthday suits ntul
juggling tori ties A party i (in
sisting of imii li drumming, how l
mg and laughing ensued
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