State Fair Hound’s wacky idea of the day is inspired by photos published in Empire Showcase, Henry W. Schramm’s 1985 biography of our Fair. The pictures, taken by Al Edison, show a Bell Aerosystems test pilot firing up a jet pack and soaring over the main gate.
Schramm’s book doesn’t date the photos, but we believe they’re from the 70s. One of them was displayed in the Fair history exhibit in the Grange Building. This photo shows a more modern version of a jet pack.
It seems to us that if a pilot could use a jet pack to fly over the Fairgrounds 40 years ago, one could do it now. Wouldn’t that be wild?
Famed daredevil Nik Wallenda walked a wire over the midway of this year’s Erie County Fair, so that’s another idea for the kind of dazzling spectacle that could add to the excitement of the Fair.
Less sensational ideas, such as this year’s very successful Labor Day-Dollar Day promotion are also important, so let’s keep brainstorming to come up with ways to boost our favorite event . We’ve got almost a year to work on it.
Leave a Reply