Category: 2009 N.C. State Fair

Village of Yesteryear toasts Jim Trantham

After 38 years in the Village of Yesteryear, Jim Trantham is hanging up his tools and calling it a day. The musical instrument maker is retiring after this year’s fair, passing the reins of leadership to Pam Earp, a crafter who creates corn shuck dolls. On Saturday morning before the Village opened, the crafters gathered to honor the Tranthams. Jim’s son Doug and Doug’s children have been fixtures in the Village. With Jim’s retirement, all of the Tranthams will take a break from the Village. The Village crafters have a tight bond, nurtured through years of a shared love for heritage crafts and the annual gathering for…

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Deep Fried Ambassador update: Flying high

(This is part 5 of the “Whole Lotta Loony” series chronicling the adventures of your Deep-Fried Ambassador and Deputy Deep-Fried at the North Carolina State Fair.) I did it! Finally, after 5,000 visits to the State Fair in the last ten days, I worked up the nerve to ride the 100-foot-tall Vertigo Swing. With my stomach in my throat. I know, I know. It’s not exactly a high-intensity thrill ride. And, yes, there were some kids on the ride. Ahem. BUT, I have a huge fear of heights. Huge. From the moment I heard about the Vertigo at the press…

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Photographs of photographs

A picture, as they say, is worth 1,000 words. As a writer, I’m used to coming up with ways of stringing together words to create the most clarity and impact, but I’m always fascinated with the ways that shading, editing, cropping, zooming and lighting can tell a story without any words whatsoever. It’s probably no surprise, then, that one of my favorite things to do is browse the Arts and Photography exhibit. North Carolina has some very talented professional, amateur and student artists, and the work displayed here at the Fair is a testament to that. Here are a few…

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Tobacco auction at the Expo

Tobacco is a large part of the agricultural heritage of North Carolina and you can see it across the fairgrounds. Throughout the Fair, a dedicated staff stokes the fire at the Heritage Circle tobacco barn, and you may remember Merrie Go Round trying her hand at tobacco tying earlier this week. Yesterday, retired tobacco buyers, warehousemen and auctioneers re-enacted a live tobacco auction in the Expo Center. The event demonstrated how tobacco was traded for more than 150 years in North Carolina. During auction, tobacco is laid on the ground. As the group of buyers and warehousemen move down the line,…

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Deep Fried Triangle Tweetup: Deep fried, IRL

At last night’s Deep Fried Triangle Tweetup, more than 150 revelers (twevelers?) came together to celebrate deep-fried food, face-painted Fail Whales and, of course, the rocking Twitter community here in the Triangle. We had a great time at the event, and we hope our tweeps did too. Also, we want to give attendees (and everyone else who came to the Fair on Thursday) a HUGE shout out for your contributions to the Food Bank of Central and Eastern North Carolina (@FoodBankCENC). By bringing four cans in exchange for admission on Food Lion Hunger Relief Day (@FoodLion), you helped us raised…

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Deep Fried Ambassador update: Reptile on a stick

(This is part 4 of the “Whole Lotta Loony” series chronicling the adventures of your Deep-Fried Ambassador and Deputy Deep-Fried at the North Carolina State Fair.) Is it possible that all state fair food could be described as weird?  I mean, most of it is stuff we don’t normally eat in our daily lives, except for that one magical week of the year when diets and scales go out the window. But I think some fair food is stranger than others. Like side meat. What exactly is that? Guess I’m not southern enough. Also ostrich. I hope I don’t offend…

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Oh, I wish I were an…

Doggone Dave and Lil Links Laura – members of Oscar Mayer’s street team – have pulled the Wienermobile over for a pit stop at the N.C. State Fair. Fairgoers can view the inside of the iconic automobile, pick up free coupons and stickers and even walk away with an Oscar Mayer “wienie whistle” if they sing the Oscar Mayer jingle. The Wienermobile is located inside Gate 8, and will be here today and Sunday.

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10.22.09: A double record setting day

We are a happy group of people in the press office this morning. We are fresh off the fun of the Deep Fried Triangle Tweetup and Food Lion Hunger Relief Day at the Fair. Just a little while ago, the attendance report came down and we had 108,929 people come through the gates yesterday, more than 48,000 of whom brought canned foods in exchange for free admission. This equals out to 237,534 pounds of food, or more than 200,000 meals, that were donated to the Food Bank of Central and Eastern North Carolina.This was a record for Thursday attendance and…

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Fuquay-Varina High School wins People’s Choice Award in Farm Animal Frenzy contest

Fuquay-Varina High School’s “Sleepy Sheepy” won the People’s Choice Award in the 2009 Farm Animal Frenzy competition at the N.C. State Fair. “Sleepy Sheepy” received 505 votes in online polling, outdistancing Durham School of the Arts’ “Raul the Rooster,” which placed second with 426 votes. Fuquay-Varina’s entry had garnered an honorable mention in the judges’ competition, but proved to be the most popular with the public. As the PCA winner, the high school gets bragging rights for the next year. Below is the high school’s description of its winning entry. Sleepy Sheepy has just finished eating jam from his JAM…

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Deep Fried Ambassador: You look a little tired, okay?

(This is part 3 of the “Whole Lotta Loony” series chronicling the adventures of your Deep-Fried Ambassador and Deputy Deep-Fried at the North Carolina State Fair.) Okay, so the last thing I want to find out about myself (and have blasted over a microphone to zillions of state fair-goers) is my weight. I’ve been pounding the chocolate-covered bacon lately. And candy apples. And maybe a biscuit here or there. All in the name of deep-fried duty, of course. And spread out over multiple visits. But still. So when it came time to check off another never-done-it item from my list,…

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