The "Monkey Man," and the Monkey's Kiss

The "Monkey Man" asks: "Do you want a kiss from the monkey?"
And the little blonde girl tries to decide . . .

One of the highlights of my year is an annual visit to the fair with one of my dearest girlfriends. The 140th Annual Centre County Grange Encampment and Fair, better known as "The Grange Fair," is being held this year from August 21 to 28 in Centre Hall, which is pretty much smack dab in the middle of Pennsylvania.

Secretly, or perhaps not so secretly, the main reason we go there is to eat our way through the fair (an activity quaintly referred to as the "Grange Gorge"). One of these years, I'll show you a picture of one of the treats, which are many. My personal current favorite is the peach dumpling - served hot, of course - with cinnamon ice cream that melts all over that sweet peachy goodness. But there are many others: fried veggies, any kind of food you can think of served on a stick, real food like soup and sandwiches, lemonade, monkey bread (no relation to the monkey in the photo, just an odd name for a huge cinnamon roll topped with icing and - if you want it - apple cinnamon topping and ice cream), and I could go on and on.

The fair is unique, though, for its encampment. What this means is that thousands of people come to the fair and camp in old-fashioned green tents (you can see a few in the background of this shot), with spaces in the campground handed down from generation to generation. The waiting list is so long that many people wait for 25 years or more to get a spot; they aren't even accepting names anymore on the wait list. Many more people camp in recreational vehicles parked on the grounds. And so a little bit of land in the middle of farm fields in Pennsylvania turns into - for just one week - a tiny city in and of itself.

It is a city of games, and rides, and buildings full of commercial displays, and interesting and weird stuff to buy. What did I come home with? Socks, lots of them, Tupperware containers, jewelry, a velvety scarf, several new glass menagerie critters (!!!!), two t-shirts, and a bunch of stuff you'd typically buy at a hardware store (some of which I'm not even sure what it is, really, but I just had to have it).

There is nightly entertainment, as well as the typical things you'd expect at a rural fair: chicken dances, tractor pulls, livestock judging, competitions and displays. I haven't yet entered one of my famous apple pies, but one of these years, I think I must. There are also photography and craft exhibits and competitions, and if I like the colors in it at all, I always buy chances for the quilt that they have on display. (No, I've never won.)

There are animals too, of course, and we giggle our way through them: sheep, goats, pigs, chickens, bunnies, and cows. They stick their snouts out for nose skritches, snooze in piles, wear funny pajamas, and - to the endless entertainment of the young and not so young - emit prodigious amounts of waste, right there in front of God and everyone. (Yes, ew! And watch where you step, please!)

Best of all, though, is the chance to hang out with my girlfriend and have fun. We've been going to the Grange Fair for almost 20 years now. In some years, we have been joined by others: on occasion, one or both of her two beautiful young daughters, and/or her mother. But usually, our time at the fair is just for us: two women throwing our cares and cautions to the wind, and being "just girls" for one night. Yes, just two girls having fun at the fair.

Oh, and in case you're wondering about the photo . . . this is the famous "Monkey Man" who strolls the grounds at the Grange Fair. For a quarter, he will let the monkey kiss you. In this photo, the little girl was looking at the monkey and trying to decide whether she really wanted a monkey's kiss. In the end, she decided she did. She paid her quarter, closed her eyes tight, and accepted the monkey's kiss.

The soundtrack: Prince, Kiss.

Bonus links for those who may be interested:
The Grange Fair's Web page
August 28, 2012: Meet Me at the Fair!
August 27, 2013: In Which We Make New Friends at the Fair!