August 1, 2014 at 5:00 p.m.
Enthusiastic crowd packs Pioneer Park for opening night of Oneida County Fair
Enthusiastic crowd packs Pioneer Park for opening night of Oneida County Fair
Families made their way from vendor to vendor, sampling the different treats available only once a year when the fair is in town.
A band played to a large crowd of onlookers, but the music (mostly classics everyone can hum) could be heard all over the grounds.
The top of the Ferris Wheel poked up into the skyline from inside the softball field, visible over the vendor booths, spinning slowly.
Children ran from ride to ride, laughing along the way. The sun shone down on a scene that embodies the classic sense of small-town America.
A large crowd of local residents and tourists descended on the park looking for some old-fashioned fun.
Near the back of the row of vendors, a small, padded ring was erected. Those brave enough to take part could challenge a friend to a sumo wrestling match, complete with padded suits.
Connor Lund, a 13-year-old from Rhinelander, said it was too good to pass up.
"We just came up here for some fun and I knew I had to try this," he said. "I was going up against my cousin, so that was fun. I really wanted to beat him and I did."
After his victory in the ring, Lund moved on to the other fair attractions littered across the park. He said what he liked most was just taking in all the sights and sounds of the fair.
"I like coming here and meeting different people," he said. "It's a lot of fun and it's something different. The food is always good too."
Not far from the wrestling ring was the dunk tank, a truly classic fair throwback.
The dunk tank served as a fundraiser for the Rhinelander Little League and young ball players wasted no time trying to soak their teammates.
Josh Randolph, another 13-year-old, said he had been looking forward to the dunk tank for awhile.
"It's a lot of fun," he said. "Most of the time, everyone is having a really good time. I haven't been in the tank yet but I'm planning on getting up there. I'm a little nervous. That water is going to be cold."
Randolph looked on when, after a few misses, someone finally hit home and sent one of his friends plunging into the icy water. A big smile spread across his face.
"I have a lot of fun here because I get to hang out with my friends," Randolph said. "All these fair rides are great. We don't live in a big city. We don't have amusement parks, so this is the closest thing we get to rides. I love the food too. I can't wait to try it all. I'm excited for pretty much all of it."
It wasn't only Rhinelander natives enjoying a Thursday night at the fair. Sean Tucker said he was here visiting and couldn't believe it when he saw the fair was in town.
"We're vacationing up here," he said. "When we come up we like to do some of the small-town stuff and this year the fair happened to be going on, which is great. It's cool to be out here. There are all these huge pine trees all over, which makes it a really cool place for a fair. The band is pretty good and so is the food. We're really enjoying ourselves. We haven't hit the rides yet, but we're planning on it."
When the sun went down, the lights from the rides and booths, most prominently the Ferris Wheel, lit up the sky with an unmistakable neon glow.
For a few days every summer, the Oneida County Fair transforms Pioneer Park into something out of a storybook. It's about community and old-fashioned fun and Thursday was just the beginning. The fair continues from 10 a.m. to 11 p.m. Saturday and 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Sunday.
Andy Hildebrand may be reached at [email protected].
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