With the Lebanon Area Fair officially starting tomorrow, Tom Jones and Dana Lape spoke with LebTown about the tradition of Children’s Day, which will be held this year on Monday, July 22.
Children’s Day, which Lape said is a tradition common to fairs, is held each year on the Monday following the official start of the Lebanon Area Fair. Jones said the day is open to parents and their children aged “toddlers on up to teens” or grandparents and their grandchildren from Lebanon County and surrounding areas.
“In the past, I think we’ve had different daycare centers bring in kids. But, I’m not sure if that will be happening anymore with the current employment situation, you know, staffing problems that people have,” Jones said. Also potentially in attendance at Children’s Day are students from summer school programs at local schools, Lape said.
Lape, who is a Lebanon Area Fair board member and serves on various committees, said, “The reason we really do it is to give the kids a day at our fair. With a little add-on, you know, we’re hoping they go home and talk their parents into coming back to the fair.”
Lape noted that, over the years, the fair created several themed days, such as Senior Day for senior citizens and Military Appreciation Day for military personnel, which eventually led to the creation of Children’s Day.
“And the one thing that I remember, it was really cool one year in [Children’s Day], was when we had pig racing,” Lape reminisced of a previous year’s Children’s Day. “And we had a really, really good crowd of daycares come out that year. And the different daycares had different colored shirts. And it was just a really cool picture when the kids were sitting on the bleachers, watching the pig racing.”
Jones is a longtime Lebanon County resident and Lebanon Area Fair volunteer who Lape calls the “guru of the entertainment department.” Recently, Jones, who has also helped out with the fair’s security and scholarship/silent auction, became chair of the Children’s Day committee.
Jones said that he started planning Children’s Day around the start of the new year. Lape, Alice Jones, Tim McGowan, Nadine Moore, Scott Yeagley, Sue Werner, Russell Wolfe, Michelle Kaufman, Brianna Libell, Riley Werner, and Madison Copenhaver have been helping him plan and will be helping out on the day of the event.
Children’s Day starts Monday at 8 a.m. and ends at 10 p.m. Beginning at 9 a.m., volunteers will hand out goody bags to the first 500 children to enter the fair gates. Jones said the day’s programming, which also starts at 9 a.m., is largely free to the fair, although a few programs do charge the fair to appear.
“[Farm animals] will come in on Saturday, but throughout the week, they’ll be there. And, the kids will be able to see those on Children’s Day also,” Jones said. There will also be at least one fire truck on display throughout the day for the children.
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Programming highlights include a Main Stage demonstration and time for personal interactions with the Susquehanna Service Dogs as well activities with the Lebanon Area Fair royalty. The 4-H clubs will host a sheep-sheering and yarn-spinning demonstration, a tutorial on how to make turkey calls, and other activities.
The Eudora Farms Petting Zoo will open at 10 a.m. for the day. Various youth shows will be held throughout the morning in the arena, and the junior baking contest will be held in the West Hall.
Victoria Circus will start its half-hour performance at 10 a.m. The performance will include someone walking across a high wire, someone balancing a bicycle on a high wire, and someone suspended on a motorcycle on a high wire. “They also have a Globe of Death where they have a couple people riding around on motorcycles inside … a round metal cage,” Jones added.
Boston Bachert will perform starting at 11 a.m. and then again at 1 p.m. on the Midway. The South Annville-based professional uses a variety of magic tricks in his half-hour performances.
“We met him at the Elizabethtown talent show last year because the Lebanon crew that does entertainment here, we actually do the entertainment at the Elizabethtown Fair too. But we saw him and … he’s really, really good,” Lape said. “And we both got talking to him and he said he goes to all these state fairs all over the country. And then we said, ‘Hey, how far away do you live?’ And he said, ‘Oh, I’m from Lebanon.’ We’re like, ‘What?’ We didn’t even know he was from Lebanon.”
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Starting at 10:30 a.m., there will be a one-hour violin performance by Ashley Butters Violin Studio in the pavilion. Then, from 12 to 12:45 p.m., and then again, from 1:30 to 2:15 p.m., Holly Serio from Annville Township will host music assemblies in the pavilion. Starting at 2:30 p.m., Family Karate Martial Arts will put on a half-hour demonstration next to the Pavilion. And then, starting at 6 p.m., Suzanne’s Dance Studio will perform.
There will also be an animal decorator contest starting at 6 p.m. in Brightbill Arena.
“And even the Junior Fair Board is going to be doing like an ag rodeo, they’re calling it, with contests like wheelbarrow races and contests for the kids,” Lape added. “So, it’s actually becoming, it’s evolving, into maybe the biggest Kid’s Day in Lebanon County throughout the year.”
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Children’s Day “ends with our talent show at 6:30 p.m. in the pavilion,” Lape said. “And we’ve been doing this for years. And … it’s for all ages. But that’s a cool way to end the [Children’s Day] is by having our big talent show in the pavilion.” Lape noted that Addi Grace and the Jess Zimmerman Band performed at the Lebanon Area Fair talent show early on in their since-successful music careers.
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A comprehensive list of Children’s Day programs will be available upon entrance to the fair.
“The Lebanon Area Fair is an exciting place for kids and adults,” Jones wrote in a follow-up email to LebTown. “While most events occur in the evening, it can be overwhelming for younger kids and the parents supervising them. Children’s Day gives them the opportunity to experience the fair in a quieter and less crowded environment while still being able to see the fantastic shows and explore the barns.”
“I think this year, especially, it’s going to be pretty impressive. Watch it rain,” Lape quipped. Fortunately, at the time of writing, Monday appears to be cloudy with a relatively low chance of rain, with a high in the upper 80s and a low in the mid-60s.
When asked about the accessibility of the Lebanon Valley Exposition Center & Fairgrounds, Jones said that there are “quite a few handicapped parking spots that are right up towards the front of the building” and ADA-accessible restrooms located in the building as well.
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