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New York State Fair: The good, the bad, and the country music

The Good…
When I heard the news about the Lottery Shrine being relocated I wanted to shout for joy. For those who follow this column I pointed out this Lottery Shrine complete with lit numbered balls and how it should be relegated to the James E. Strates’ Shows games of chance. There’s a lot more to New York than a Lottery. Okay, I got that out of my system, now on to the Fair.

The New York State Fair is really about agriculture. One of the longest running Fairs in the nation with attendance nearing 1 million visitors, the second largest fair in North America.

There are several places that you have to visit at the fair. Of course there’s Pan-African Village with crafts and afro-centric items. There are music and drum workshops for children, musical entertainment on the main stage featuring African drummers, R n’ B, gospel and other music forms emanating out of the “Pan of Africa.”

Local and regional favorites have become a mainstay of the stage that has become one of the most active on the fairgrounds with entertainment and workshops scheduled throughout the day.

You can’t go to the New York State Fair without checking out the food. There are several that stand out.

Jerk Hut

– Pan African Village
Jerk Chicken, Plantains and a wide assortment of Jamaican & West Indian foods. Frequently appears on lists of “must visit” places at the fair.

Omanii’s Lemonade heaven

– Pan African Village
Not only does have the best lemonade on the Fairgrounds and a menu includes all- beef hot dogs and other items for people who don’t eat pork.

International Pavilion

– Different types of food, for those looking for “healthy alternatives” to traditional fair foods will find salads, yogurt and fruit.
These are just a few of the thousands of food options you have at the great New York State Fair.

Too bad those options can’t be extended to the Grandstand and Chevy-Cole Muffler-Empire Court entertainment.

The Bad

Let’s see who do we have this year? The Spinners? What happened? The Temptations weren’t available. The average age of the performers of color on stage at the cole-chevy-empire court is 99 ½ years old!

The Ugly

Next year I expect classic Motown greats will appear with Walkers and “Depends” undergarments performing their greatest hits before the fair realizes that there are millions of black people in New York State.

Perhaps a 90 year old Charo saying her trademark, “Coochi coohi chooci”, Or a reunion of remaining living 70 year old Supremes, “when ever I turn my hearing aid up, I hear a symphony.”

I’ve long given up on Fair entertainment being inclusive of the citizenry of New York State. But I hear Bobby Brown is making Country CD perhaps there’s hope for next year…

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