Hunterdon County 4-H and Agricultural Fair kicks off Wednesday. Get all the info here
The Hunterdon County 4-H and Agricultural Fair, the annual celebration of the county's heritage and character, returns this week for the 19th year at the fairgrounds in South County Park off Route 179 in East Amwell.
The fair runs Wednesday through Sunday. Hours are 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. Wednesday through Saturday and 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday.
There is something at the fair for everyone, from tractor pulls and a contest for the longest ear of corn to the 2023 American Honey Queen and a performance by The Marvelous Mutts.
"We’re so pleased to bring you this year’s Fair," said fair president Bob Hoffman. "Many people are involved in organizing it, including our directors and members, 4-H club members and their parents, club leaders and the 4-H staff. For the 4-H members, the Fair is the culmination of a year’s work, giving them the chance to show the public what they’ve accomplished. Make sure to go into the various barns, buildings and tents to see their projects."
The Mount Airy 4-H Dairy Club − the oldest 4-H club in the state and one of the oldest in the country − will be celebrating its centennial at the fair.
The oldest former club member is J. Barton Case of West Amwell, who joined the club in 1937 and recently turned 97. Another older member is Irvin Hockenbury, 90, of Raritan Township. He joined the club in 1947. Both men had children who became second-generation Mount Airy 4-H members in the 1970s and ‘80s.
In its 100 years, the Mount Airy club has produced numerous members recognized for outstanding club work on state and national stages. This year, members Jacob Van Doren and sisters Carlee and Chloee Roell competed at the National Holstein Dairy Bowl in Kentucky where they finished fifth in the nation of 13 teams.
A day of special Mount Airy 4-H Dairy Club reunion events are planned for Thursday with many former members from around the country expected to take part.
Each day, the Main Stage will offer free entertainment. Dan Torrone, a former Hunterdon 4-H member who is known as the professional entertainer "Doctor D," arranges all the performances and serves as the master of ceremonies.
This year, entertainers include the Flores Circus Thrill Show, who have been seen on "America's Got Talent," Bob Lloyd's Magic Show, Ivan Arestov Acrobatic Extravaganza and Eyes of the Wild, an exotic animal rescue showcase. The Marvelous Mutts, a team of dogs adopted from shelters and rescues who perform numerous tricks and stunts, will make their first appearance at the fair.
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There also will be returning performers, such as the 4-H Hunterdon Hoppers, Lehigh Valley Cloggers, Rogers Dance Academy and The Happy Tappers, a local dance group of seniors. Doug Berwin and the Late Night Rodeo Bank will present a Tribute to Alan Jackson on Wednesday night while "Tractor Dave" Bond, a Delaware Township farmer, and his Real Country band take the stage Thursday night.
Fireworks will be launched Friday night, after the Big Horse Band and the Real to Reel country band shows, and Saturday evening will feature the Cramer Brothers country band.
4-H members also will take the stage to demonstrate their projects and talk about 4-H activities and displays including horses, sheep, goats, cattle, rabbits, poultry and dogs.
The Farm Tractor Pulls will be held Wednesday during the day and evening, along with a Garden Tractor Pull Saturday morning and a Pedal Tractor Pull for children ages 3 to 9 (tractor included) on Sunday. The Wednesday night show, which includes truck classes, costs $5 per spectator. All other shows and entertainment are free.
The fair also will feature the traditional open "Home Grown" contests in baking, canning and home arts categories. Gardeners can exhibit flowers, fruits and vegetables. There also are shows for farm crops as well as contests for jams and jellies, relishes and sauces.
The Hunterdon County Knit and Crochet Guild will once again sponsor the Needlework and Home Arts Show which includes hooked rugs, quilts, beading, jewelry and needlework projects. Entries for these classes will be made earlier, to allow them to be judged before the Fair kicks off.
People are invited to show their maple syrup products at the Maple Syrup Display and there is a "Best in the Egg" show as well as classes for smallest and the largest egg, as well as three biggest eggs. The "Funniest Egg" will also win a prize for its owner.
The traditional Vegetable Show, with more than 80 classes, chooses the best specimens, based on uniformity, quality and other attributes. There’s a separate contest for biggest entries of various fruits and vegetables, the largest, longest, and so on. Categories include biggest beet, longest ear of corn, biggest onion, largest pears, peaches and plums and smallest tomato. Judges also determine the "most unusual looking" entry.
The Fruit Show classes include apples, grapes, peaches, pears and plums of various varieties.
The Flower Show has 36 classes, along with "any other," flowering shrubs and collections of five different garden flowers and wildflowers.
The Farm Crop contest also has classes to determine winning growers in categories such as tallest stalks of field corn, longest sheaves of soybeans, longest ear of field corn (from last year’s crop), tallest sunflower and largest sunflower head.
The Northwest New Jersey Beekeepers Association organizes a Honey Show for its members. Selena Rampolla, the 2023 American Honey Queen, will speak to fairgoers about the importance of honeybees to Garden State agriculture.
Food and drink offerings this year include Indian, Hungarian, Greek and Mexican specialties as well as a soda floats, empanadas, New York-style and wood-fired pizza, six varieties of grilled cheese, crepes, pork roll sandwiches, beef and chicken cooked over a barbecue pit, a deli truck and a lobster truck.
Parking is $15 per vehicle. The fee benefits volunteer fire companies whose members supervise parking fields and the rescue squad on scene all during the fair.
For a details and entry forms as well as a complete schedule of all the activities, shows and contests, go to HunterdonCountyFair.com.
email: cmakin@gannettnj.com
Cheryl Makin is an award-winning features and education reporter for MyCentralJersey.com, part of the USA Today Network. Contact: Cmakin@gannettnj.com or @CherylMakin. To get unlimited access, please subscribe or activate your digital account today.
This article originally appeared on MyCentralJersey.com: Hunterdon County 4-H and Agricultural Fair: All you need to know
