| BELVIDERE, NJ [April 8, 2005] - When Hurricane Ivan came to town last fall, the trail of wreckage left in its wake included the Warren County Fairgrounds in Harmony Township.
Most of the buildings at the fairgrounds suffered some level of damage. Water pushed out the walls on many buildings. Others had a coating of mud on their floors.
The horse ring was washed out and the fence surrounding the ring was knocked down. The interior track of the main arena was washed away. Asphalt floors buckled in the 4-H and Commercial buildings. And hardest hit was the Folk Arts Expo Building, with floor and wall damage.
With an estimated $100,000 of damage to repair, volunteers scheduled their first work day for April 2. However, heavy rains that day, which made floodwaters rise again in Warren County, prompted a rescheduling of the workday for Saturday, April 9.
Warren County Farmers’ Fair volunteers have much work ahead of them to repair the fairgrounds in time for this season’s 68th Annual fair, which runs from Monday, August 1 to Sunday, August 7. But organizers vow they will be ready. |
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A seventh day has been added to the fair this year, and organizers hope that ending the fair on Sunday instead of Saturday will boost attendance, which is particularly important due to the need to finance the storm repairs.
While the fair is a “county fair,” the fairgrounds itself is not county property but is owned by a non-profit association, hampering the effort to obtain federal disaster relief funds.
One of the last, true agricultural fairs in the Garden State, the Warren County Farmers’ Fair is actually three events rolled into one. This year’s fair also features the 5th Annual Hot Air Balloon Festival and the 8th Annual Traditional Arts Expo, organized by the Northwest Jersey Folklife Project, where traditional artists from Warren County and beyond demonstrate their crafts and skills.
The fairgrounds are located on Route 519 in Harmony Township, just north of Phillipsburg and Routes 57 and 22. For more information about this year’s fair, visit www.warrencountyfarmersfair.org. |