Harford Fair directors attend convention

Directors from the Harford Fair, office staff, and the Harford Fair Queen and her parents recently joined 1,653 other fair personnel from across the state for the 100th Pennsylvania State Fair Association Convention in Hershey. As a part of the celebration, all participating fairs had the opportunity to win a brand new John Deere Gator, golf carts, computers, printers and other office equipment.

The 2011 Harford Fair Queen, Daisy Matulevich, a junior at Mansfield University majoring in nursing, proudly represented the Harford Fair throughout the week. Her parents, Cheryl and Gary Matulevich of Hop Bottom, attended the Coronation Banquet on Saturday evening along with two of Daisy’s four siblings, Meadow and Levi Matulevich. She competed with 56 other queen contestants from fairs across the state. The West Lampeter Fair Queen, Drew Brubaker, was crowned the 2012 PA State Fair Queen at the banquet, the culminating event of the convention. 

The convention affords fair personnel from the 115 fairs the opportunity to attend round table discussions as well as educational seminars presented by national speakers.  The information will be utilized in planning and making improvements for the 2012 Harford Fair, Aug. 20-25. Communications Competition in the areas of premium books, billboards, placemats, brochures, creative fair ideas, and overall fair displays were judged. In addition to informational sharing, there was a vast trade show with over 155 vendors which offered ideas and samples of food, ribbons, entertainment, amusements, and other things associated with fairs. 

Other Harford Fair personnel and Susquehanna County members in attendance at the convention included directors Dr. Michael Kowalewski, president; Dale Grant; Jason Miller; Cindy Reynolds; David Tyler; Barbara L. Kelly who handles sponsorships for the fair; Brian Tyler who works in the fair arena; Renee Tyler who manages the First Aid Station; and Michelle Kowalewski, Dairy and Ag Enterprise Educator, Susquehanna County Cooperative Extension. 

One of the major changes that occurred and was announced at the convention was the sponsorship for the chocolate contests at the fairs. Hershey will no longer sponsor these contests state wide. This is somewhat ironic since the state fair convention has been held at the Hershey Convention Center for years. The new sponsor is PA Preferred, a state-wide agricultural marketing program sponsored by the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture. Also announced was the theme for the 2012 fairs is “A Century of Celebrating Fairs and Agriculture.” Harford Fair plans to use this state-wide theme for its premium book, advertising, and commercial and vendor space competition.

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