We’re A-Going To The Fair

Christian, Sal and I went down to the Pownal Fair the other day. We don’t do a ton of community-based entertainment, but no one misses the fair, right? It was really kind of lovely. The first thing we saw was a DJ, perhaps in his fifties or sixties. It was hard to place his age with the voluminous, thick black and white beard that enveloped his face and reached towards his belly. To say that this beard was his defining characteristic would be an understatement. To say that this man knew what he was doing with one turntable and a microphone would also be an understatement. He was the Pied Piper of Pownal for the evening. The children of Pownal gathered around him on the dance floor as he played Lady Gaga and Black Eyed Peas. The kids, obviously dropped off by their parents and perhaps encountering the instruction to “dance” for the first time in their lives, were flinging their small bodies every way possible. When a song stopped, the Beard instructed them to “keep dancing, keep moving.” At another break in songs around 5:15 pm, the Beard announced that they were gonna keep dancing straight until 6:30 pm, a feat that had never been accomplished before. The kids revved up again and began moving: they thought they were about to break a world record. When their energy flagged, the Beard would pass out prizes which was enough to keep the small dancers moving and motivated.

Clearly, this man, the Beard, had a twofold duty: (1) to entertain the children so their parents could walk around without being pestered and (2) to make the same kids as tired as humanly possible. I think he was accomplishing both things handily. Or at least his beard was.

Walking past the DJ, we saw the field where the tractor pull had taken place; trucks were loading up the last of the tractors and taking them home. Tented booths housed bingo, hand-made jewelry, stuffed animals, feather boas, and princess outfits.  The lines for cotton candy, lemon ices and ice cream were starting to stretch out into the walking lanes.

Then, judging from the beeline I made to the booth, I decided to play some bingo. I can’t tell you why, exactly. It was a decision that surprised me as much as it might surprise you. From the other people playing bingo I can say that I am really too young to play seriously. But they had those ink markers and I wanted to use them to stamp on a bingo card. Here are some things I learned about bingo:

It goes way faster than you think it will.

The announcer is really hard to understand.

Someone almost always gets bingo before you.

You will start buying more cards to have more chances at getting bingo even if you don’t really want to.

The prizes at bingo aren’t all that great.

I spent my two dollars – the amount I told myself I could spend – and left. I met up with Christian and Sal on a little grassy knoll with other Pownal families where we all watched the Beard enforce his dancing regime on the kids. And after a spell we left.

And that, friends, is the Pownal Fair for 2010.