The Fireman’s Fair got more than its usual amount of rain this year. But the bad weather wasn’t unprecedented. Jeff Armitage told us it happened 10 years ago. And he should know. He’s been running the event since the mid-1980s.
“That’s longer than most people stay in their regular jobs,” the former fire chief quipped on July 27. The rain hadn’t dampened his spirits. And there were reasons to look on the brighter side. The weather had been perfect for the last six fairs. And earlier in the day, the Storm King Engine Company had hosted a record number of camp kids.
The fair has always been an attraction for the summer programs in Cornwall and Cornwall-on-Hudson. But this year, the local kids had plenty of company. Buses pulled up from other camps until there were 600 kids on the field behind the elementary school. Almost half of them had come from Ellenville.
The skies were clear for the young visitors. But later in the day, the weather changed. Shortly after 7 p.m. both the ground and the fair-goers got a soaking. The people who outlasted the rain were able to have a good time.
They didn’t have to wait on line to go on the rides that reopened, and at some of the booths they had an excellent chance of winning. For example, Jennifer Batchelor and her daughter Elizabeth tried a competition involving accuracy with a water pistol. Since they were the only two people playing, it was obvious that one of them would get a prize.
Getting a prize was a certainty under the food tent, as Margaret Quinn handed out balloons that could be twisted into imaginative shapes Nina Creta, used her balloons to create silly looking headpieces for herself and her boyfriend (Charles Quinn). And Jim Kline, a longtime resident, remembered the days when the fair was held on Main Street. After the Friday night rain, people just enjoyed being together.
This is a busy summer for the Storm King Engine Co. Next Saturday, Aug. 11, the company will host its community barbecue.