Women’s Day is Wednesday at the New York State Fair. Home base for some of the observances is logically the Harriet May Mills Art and Home Center which will host various activities throughout the day. 
The classically-designed, pillar-enhanced structure, long known as the Women’s Building, hosts traditionally female-centric homemaking skills with artistic handicrafts, dresses, quilts, rugs and artworks prominently exhibited, while culinary masterpieces compete for ribbons.
While you’re in the Art and Home Center you can take a break at the Empire Theatre, located a few stairs above the ground floor, for a stage show. 
The dimly-lit auditorium offers comfortable chairs and air conditioning where you can relax and enjoy entertainment from local music, dance or acting troupes. The variety of acts, often presented with youthful enthusiasm, are generally free of charge. Eco-magician Steve Trash performs daily at 11 a.m., 3 and 5 p.m. The schedule of acts is listed on the Fair’s website and may be posted outside the building entrance nearest the Pan African Village.
Go upstairs to the musical instrument museum to enjoy some vintage pieces including several keyboard instruments. Follow the sound of music to the classic organs and a player piano. Downstairs, authentic model circuses and carnivals bring back historical memories of fairs past with colorful posters lining the surrounding walls. 
If attending the New York State Fair means missing your favorite television cooking show, you can get a live chef lesson in the high-tech demonstration kitchen. The schedule is on the Fair website and posted outside the northern entrance to the building.
Hip Hop Heaven
Baby boom-generation visitors fondly recall childhood trips to the original Suburban Park, a classic amusement park in Manlius that held magical appeal to kids. The tacky fun house, the zesty pizza, the miniature train, the rock ‘n’ roll bands and the rickety roller coaster made the trip an indispensable part of every kid’s summer. 
Those former thrill-seeking youngsters are now senior citizens who would like to enjoy entertainment in front of the big stage at the western end of the New York State Fair now known as Suburban Park.
But there’s precious little to attract them as shows booked there have skewed almost exclusively toward much younger fans, who will identify the new moniker with ear-shattering, pulsating beats of acts that feature drums as lead instruments. For seniors–really for many folks who love music and value actual singing and playing talent–there’s been little reason to spend a summer evening on the sloping lawn. As usual, that’s especially true for country music fans.
Meanwhile, transportation to Suburban Park continues to be challenging, as the daunting acreage of the Fairgrounds often requires fans entering for a concert on the big stage to hike a long way. Savvy concert fans can seek parking in the adjacent gray lot or park across State Fair Boulevard in the brown lot and enter gate four. 
But it seems that most patrons entering will also seek out tasty Fair meals and exhibits and entertainment far from the pond and arrive breathless.
While the lengthy trek on foot can take some of the fun out of the whole experience, again this year there’s not much fun to be had there anyway. If this pathetic lineup is the future of the stage, it will never live up to the name Suburban Park.
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