Fair food makes another return to fairgrounds
Photos by Tom Rivers
KNOWLESVILLE – Rita Helsdon serves up an order of French fries from the French fry booth at the Orleans County 4-H Fairgrounds.
Heldson has been volunteering in the booth the past 35 years at the fair. However, this year the fair was cancelled due the Covid-19 pandemic and the restrictions on large gatherings.
The Cornell Cooperative Extension has welcomed fair food vendors back today and Saturday from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m.
There was a fair food fest on July 3-5. This time there are five different food vendors out of the eight.
Jane Read, pictured in back, has been the lead organizer of the French fry booth for 40 years. She said she missed seeing the people when the fair didn’t happen as scheduled last week.
“We missed seeing all of our friends who we see every year at the fair,” she said.
Frank Boeck of Rod’s Sugar Waffles in Wilson makes one of those treats today. There weren’t sugar waffles at the first fair food fest. The Extension wanted a waffle vendor this time and was able to connect with Rod’s, which is owned by Boeck’s son, Ryan. That vendor normally doesn’t come to the Orleans County 4-H Fair but welcomed the chance to go to an event.
Many of the fair food vendors have been sidelined with so many festivals and fairs cancelled this year.
