I've always had a thing for county fairs. It started back in high school when a group of my theater friends would make our annual trek to the Montgomery County Fair in Gaithersburg, MD where we would check out the freakshow ("Headless Model Kept Alive By Medical Miracle!"), watch the tractor pull (before it was even that ironic) and hit all the spinny rides (which usually ended with someone throwing up). Ah...good times!
This weekend, I attended the Ulster County Fair up near New Paltz and got to see one of my old fair favorites; The Pig Races. When I've tried to explain this in the past, I usually get blank stares so this year I took some video. I recorded the second heat of the 8:30pm race and the winner was Tammy Faye Bacon, with Arnold Schwarzenhogger a close second and Hilary Rodham Clintham in third. The prize was a trough of feed which is just visible behind the starting gate. And some Oreos if the pigs really gave it their all. Tomorrow....I'll be posting my fair slide show!
