Our View
County fair has birthday

Once again, thousands of residents will descend on the Middlesex County Fairgrounds in East Brunswick next week for summer fun and frolic.

The annual Middlesex County Fair turns 65 this year, and is shaping up to be as lively as ever.

According to Middlesex County Fair Association President Alan Habiak, this year may be one of the best yet.

The fair started as a flower and garden show sponsored by the Milltown Grange in 1937. The grange had just changed names from the East Brunswick Grange prior to the show, according to the association.

The show then grew in the next couple years to become the actual county fair. The purpose of the fair was, and still is, agricultural and educational in nature.

Freeholder Director David Crabiel, 73, was an 8-year-old boy the first year of the fair. He remembers going there as a Cub Scout to see the various animals exhibited.

The fair was not held during World War II as the nation held a tight grip on its resources for the war effort.

Despite some discussion on who would sponsor the fair following the war, the county’s Board of Agriculture came to bat to keep the event rolling.

Yet it would not be until 1965 that the fair would finally have a permanent home to call its own.

The fairgrounds in East Brunswick are now that home, and the construction of permanent buildings on the site show that it is here to stay.

While the main goals of the fair continue, the event still grows each year.

According to Habiak, the entertainment scheduled this year is among the best.

Crabiel said that he always enjoys the event and looks forward to being there again this year. He said that the fair serves as "a gathering point" for county residents, and he is right.

This year people will get together and once again celebrate the summer by watching sideshows, eating cotton candy, and riding the merry-go-round.

This is an American tradition and favorite way to spend some warm summer nights. We wish the fair well on its 65th birthday and hope we see all of you there next week to help celebrate.