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Memories and new adventures await when DuPage County Fair opens

Posted July 23, 2012 2:32 pm

By Annalisa Rodriguez

2006: Hot temperatures do little to discourage the midway crowd.

There’s hardly anything more American than apple pie, fireworks or a hot summer day spent at the county fair.

The nostalgia of a fair practically knocks you off your feet — the childhood memories of your father taking you by the hand as you hold cotton candy in the other, or of riding the Ferris wheel that seemed like it touched heaven.

Or maybe you’re brought back to your teenage years, when it was the cool thing to roam the fairgrounds and win a teddy bear for your budding love interest.

And the beautiful thing about the county fair is just that — it transcends age boundaries, offering something for the kid in us all. Better still, those memories don’t have to be just a faint hint of the past.

Instead, they are passed down generation to generation, and our own recollections become a blend of old and new.

The folks who attend the DuPage County Fair, which runs Wednesday through Sunday, July 25 to 29, in Wheaton, are a testament to that.

Take Andy Winckler, for example, who is now a fair board director but has been attending the event since he was 9. His favorite event was the demolition derby. He says he loved the sound, the smell.

And he still does.

While some events remain frozen in time, as if placed inside a glass case, others let a hint of new seep in — as with the fair’s agricultural education effort, which organizers say is a balancing act. This year, they want you to check out modern advancements in robots and GPS technology, while still connecting with the area’s rural roots.

The fair is a dance between the past and present, a gentle balance between the desire to preserve those nostalgic memories and the simultaneous desire to create new ones.

But old or new, one thing remains: It doesn’t truly feel like summer until you’ve experienced the carefree magic that is a county fair.

2003: Cowboy Todd Guynn takes a tumble off Yellow Mare during the Lazy C Rodeo.

2005: Dwight Fernald of Lombard, right, crashes into another car during the Demolition Derby.

2004: Makenzie Mann of Aurora was just 20 months old when she came face-to-face with a goat on opening day of the fairs 50th anniversary year.

2004: Robinsons Racing Pigs do one of the things they do best race.

2004: It wouldnt be a county fair without carnival games.

2002: A goose named China puts up a fight for Debbie Liberg as livestock arrives.

2005: Teen pop star Jesse McCartney wows a sold-out crowd.

If you go

What: DuPage County Fair

When: Wednesday through Sunday, July 25 to 29

Where: 2015 Manchester Road, Wheaton

Admission: $8 for adults, $3 for ages 3-12, free for younger children; free for seniors 62 and older until 3 p.m. Wednesday, Thursday and Friday; $1 for ages 3-12 Wednesday only; season pass $25

Info: dupagecountyfair.org

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