Taking in your community’s fair is a fall ritual in Lancaster County. Each one possesses a unique spirit that’s worth exploring. This year, that is especially true of the West Lampeter Community Fair, as it is celebrating its 100th anniversary.
The fair’s annual Tractor Parade features models both old and new.
Having grown up in New Holland, the arrival of fair season always prompts me to become nostalgic about carnival rides, fair food and doing my best to win Coca-Cola and Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups at the game stands set up along Main Street. For kids (and many adults), fair week is the most anticipated seven days on the calendar. While I consider Ephrata to be my current home fair, I’ve gained an appreciation for all the local editions, including the West Lampeter Community Fair, which I attended last year for the first time. It represented a nice diversion from the carnival-like atmosphere that accompanies the fairs in Ephrata and New Holland. Having experienced it, I’m sure it won’t be the last time I venture to West Lampeter.
Roots
According to the fair’s website, students at the West Lampeter Vocational School are credited with starting what has become known as the West Lampeter Community Fair. Their purpose in 1924 was to host an event through which school projects could be displayed. The guidebook was comprised of four sheets of paper. The show was a hit and a year later, dairy judging was added to the itinerary. In 1930, it officially became known as The Community Fair, growing the following year to include tents that held exhibits and livestock. The grounds were purchased in 1948 and made their debut as the site of the fair a year later. Since then, the fair has grown to encompass a wide range of events and competitions.
The fair allows visitors to get an up-close view of what grows in the fields and gardens of Lancaster County through the exhibits that fill the tents at the fairgrounds.
As a first-time attendee, I noticed the West Lampeter Community Fair marches to the beat of its own drum. The first clue comes early in the fair book, a free resource released mid-summer, now spanning well over 200 pages. On page two, it is specified that West Lampeter’s is a “Strictly Educational Fair.” True to its word, the fair heavily emphasizes community and agriculture. It also has a shorter run than the other fairs, as it kicks off on Wednesday and concludes Friday evening. Admission is free and with a donation to the fire company, visitors can park in the grassy fields that surround the fairgrounds. Absent of rides and games (and the accompanying music, bells or sirens), the atmosphere is remarkably calm. Large tents line the fairgrounds, with the arena awaiting festivities later in the evening.
Food and Agriculture
True to its intent, agriculture is displayed front and center, celebrating home gardeners and farmers alike. On Wednesday morning, exhibits are judged before they open to the public at 1 p.m. Everything from baked goods and homegrown produce to floral arrangements, needlecraft and artwork are proudly displayed in the Exhibit Center. There are also exhibition categories for youth including baked goods, dioramas and the PA Preferred Junior Baking Contest.
In another tent, farm-grown crops in the Grain and Hay category are judged. Varieties of corn bundled together on the stalk are displayed, as are glass jars filled with oats, wheat, winter barley, rye, sunflower seed and dry-shelled corn. Small bales of hay, 10-pound samples of silage (fermented green foliage stored in silos for fodder), and bundles of tobacco leaves on the lath are representative of other categories. The displays provide an opportunity to see what grows in Lancaster County’s fields up close.
The Bake Sale kicks off Wednesday at 7 p.m., with entries (including decorated cakes) auctioned off in a tent outside the Exhibit Center. With top bakers competing for the best Homemade Chocolate Cake, Blue Ribbon Apple Pie and Incredible Angel Food Cake (all qualifiers for the PA Farm Show in Harrisburg), there are delicious baked goods to bid on and if you’re lucky, take home.
Paisley Rankin’s winning entry from last year’s Junior baking contest.
The fair’s atmosphere is conducive to conversations; it feels more like a community picnic or local bake sale than a fair. Friends, neighbors and strangers gather to eat, converse and enjoy the fairgrounds. Asking folks what they thought of the food selection, one couple was gracious enough to offer me a bite of their funnel cake.
A fair staple: funnel cake.
By and large, local fairs offer fundraising opportunities to nonprofits, churches, schools and service organizations. West Lampeter takes a community-focused approach to supporting local groups, as there are no outside food vendors. Instead, Lampeter-Strasburg High School students, supporting organizations and volunteers handle food prep and vending. Groups then receive a share of the profit from respective stands. It’s simple, local and satisfying. For example, in 2023, the following groups offered fairgoers a taste the fair: Pioneer Marching Band (hamburgers and hot dogs); Strasburg/Willow Street Baseball & Softball Association (French fries and chicken tenders); Garden Spot Chapter of FFA (drinks, sausage sandwiches and ham loaf patties); Rawlinsville Camp Meeting (breakfast sandwiches, drinks, pit beef and chicken sandwiches, soup, hot dogs and whoopie pies); Lancaster South Rotary Club (funnel cakes); L-S Boys Lacrosse (pork BBQ, baked potatoes, sweet potatoes, soup and fruit cup); L-S Interact Club (pizza, walking tacos and ham & cheese sandwiches); L-S Soccer Booster (waffles and ice cream, apple dumplings and subs); Lampeter Fair Directors (milkshakes, ice cream and root beer floats).
Antique Tractors
An antique tractor lines up for the parade.
The sound of the antique tractors firing up had to be my favorite part of the West Lampeter Community Fair. My grandpa, Glenn Overly, grew up farming in Greenbank with the aid of a steam engine, and later worked as a mechanic and welder. His stable of tractors changed over the years, but two stand out the most in my memory. There was the small red Farmall Cub that resided in the barn for many years, which I fondly remember started with a hand crank. However, the tractor that stands out the most was a 1950s John Deere 40T Tricycle. Because of the sweet sound that era of John Deere engines made, they’re sometimes referred to as a “Johnny Popper.” Watching dozens of antique tractors putting about in Lampeter during the Wednesday evening tractor parade, I couldn’t help but smile ear to ear. Such an event connects attendees with the heritage of local farmers bringing crops to harvest.
Show Animals
Youngsters are heavily involved in the fair and take pride in the animals they have raised. Here, Will Deamer tends his lambs.
Shows held throughout the fair feature market livestock: swine, lamb, goat, beef cattle and dairy beef. Friday features an All-Western Horse Show, calf roping and the FFA Youth Market Sale for goat, lamb, hog, dairy beef and beef. In 2023, there were 118 livestock exhibits featuring 240 animals (of the 1155 total exhibitors). Auction winners of the livestock sale have three options: buy and keep, buy back, or donate the meat to the Central Pennsylvania Food Bank.
100th Anniversary Events
In celebration of its milestone year, the West Lampeter Community Fair will be holding six days of festivities, with special events starting on Sunday, September 22. The fair itself opens on Wednesday, September 25, and closes on Friday, September 27. There is a public call to display vintage fair memorabilia such as photographs, ribbons, signage, hats and fair books.
Community organizations operate the food stands at the fair.
Sunday evening will kick off fair festivities with the annual Fair Queen Coronation, along with a bluegrass band and a fireworks show. Monday will see a larger-than-ever Tractor Pull, as well as a Pedal Tractor Pull and Baby Parade. Tuesday will see a Lampeter’s Got Talent competition take over the fairgrounds. Wednesday and Thursday will host the livestock shows and entertainment, including the Tractor Parade, Horse-drawn Hitch, Tractor Games, Barnyard Chase events and more! Friday will conclude the week with the All-Western Horse Show and livestock auction.
Visit WestLampeterFair.com for more information.
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