Every year it’s a massive job to put together the plan for staging the New York State Fair. Our 375-acre blank canvas is transformed into a masterpiece by late August to welcome over a million visitors for an event that may be similar to other states’ fairs, but is singularly ours.

 The 2021 edition will also be different from any previous New York event for several reasons. It will be the first Fair we’ve had extend beyond 13 days, the new 18-day format beginning a year later than anticipated.

The reason for the delay–you know what that is–adds another layer of complications on top of all of the usual challenges faced by Waffner and Company. It sure seems that the most difficult obstacle to a smooth-running festival is that decisions have to be made several weeks prior to opening day despite the constantly moving target of what can go on as usual and what needs to be significantly modified.

A little straight talk is in order regarding health precautions that may limit or eliminate some Fair activities. To summarize the view from here, State Fair Hound humbly suggests a slogan for this year–“Come to the Fair. It you catch COVID, it’s your own damn fault.”

Really, by Aug. 20 there’s no reason everyone can’t be vaccinated, with the possible exception of the very rare few folks who have a medical reason to avoid it. So let’s not let those lunkheads who refuse to take a simple and safe precaution screw it up for those of who are behaving responsibly. Look around–everything is being normalized as infection rates fall. Recently schools have been approved to admit students with few or no restrictions, so it’s time to give the Fair the green light to go full speed.

One change that seems set is the shift of major concerts from Chevrolet Court to  the Chevrolet Music Festival Stage, formerly know as the Experience Stage. No big deal there–it’s been headed that way for a few years now, though there isn’t a logical reason why vaccinated fans can’t sit shoulder-to-shoulder wherever the show is staged. Not vaccinated? See the new slogan.

There’s been talk of moving toward a mostly outdoor event, keeping most buildings closed. Patrons who had their shots should have no worries going indoors to get a baked potato, gawk at the sand sculpture or line up for chocolate milk. Didn’t get yours? See the new slogan.

Attending indoor entertainment like the horse shows in the Coliseum, Agriculture Museum exhibits, youth projects, calf births, cooking demos, gardening shows or the ever-popular gadget vendors should likewise be no problem. You’re vaccinated, aren’t you? If not, see the new slogan.

You get the idea. Hey, if you want to wear a mask, go for it. But it’s time for those in control of government, business and entertainment venues to stop playing meddlesome mother to a population that has made its own decisions regarding what should be an obvious choice.

Let’s hope the powers in state government give our Fair planners approval for the show to go on as usual. Then, let’s all go to the Fair prepared to have a great time. The new slogan speaks for itself.

A recent article in the Syracuse Post-Standard served as a study in contrast compared to an act at the 2019 New York State Fair. The article documented the shameful slaughter of  over 1700 black bears by sadistic hunters in the Empire State.

Fair fans saw similar animals in the presentation of Bearadise Ranch at the Fair. While The Hound has been critical of shows featuring wild animals, at least the folks at Bearadise Ranch have some measure of respect and affection for these formidable ursine New Yorkers.

Meanwhile heavily-armed jerks get their demented kicks by going into wilderness areas to kill them as a sick form of entertainment.

Of course, bears aren’t the only critters on New York’s list of wildlife victims, all sanctioned by our own so-called Department of Environmental Conservation. When you see the DEC bureaucrats at this year’s Fair, ask them why they allow such appalling carnage, supported by your tax dollars. Don’t accept their ludicrous excuse that it somehow benefits the animals. That’s total bear shit.

Meanwhile the Post-Standard, particularly reporter David Figura, glorifies these bloodthirsty idiots with publicity, so they’re complicit in this disgusting cruelty.

Singer Charley Pride was famous for being the first. Country music’s first African-American superstar broke a lot of ground over a 50-plus year career as one of the most beloved entertainers in the nation’s history, culminating in his being enshrined in the Country Music Hall of Fame and winning a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award.

New Yorkers will also remember Pride, who died Dec. 12, as the first act to perform a concert on the stage of the New York State Fair grandstand, back in 1969, as documented by the captioned photo on display in the Fair history exhibit.

In remembering Pride, it is a common mistake to call him a great black singer, just as it would be to call Hank Aaron a great black baseball player or Viola Davis a great black actress. Greatness knows no race and country music radio fans were already cheering Pride’s expressive baritone before they discovered that the Mississippi native was African-American.

As much as that barrier needed to be broken, Charley Pride always downplayed his race and his role as a pioneer in the white-dominated industry. Though there was early reluctance on the part of some fans to accept him, his character, warmth and charisma, as much as his distinctive voice, won them over and elevated him to the upper echelon of his profession.

Pride had cracked the top ten on Billboard’s country chart eight times when he played the State Fair and his appearance there was an early indicator that fans would fill the trackside bleachers for popular acts as they did many times over the ensuing four decades.

But as so often was the case, the inimitable Charley Pride was the first.

Driving past the New York State Fairgrounds these days is a painful experience.

The 2020 Fair should be beyond the halfway point, heading into the homestretch with Labor Day weekend in sight. Instead, entrances are are locked up, the parking lots empty, the grounds abandoned.

There’s no sign of the explosion of excitement and joy that normally makes this our favorite time of year. The Governor thinks we had to cancel this year’s Fair to spare our citizens widespread and dangerous exposure to that damn virus.

If this were some other part of the country, he’d be right.

But local folks have made the sacrifices necessary to keep infection totals very low. We deserved a chance at some form of the Fair experience by employing the same cautious practices that we’ve been following to make New York a national leader in reducing cases.

Due to this controversial decision, made by one man, we aren’t currently enjoying those majestic buildings, gyrating rides, gleeful kids and amazing critters. Your nose isn’t breathing in frying peppers, prize flowers, decomposing hay or greasy funnel cakes. There’s no music, no excited screams, no sizzling sausages.

Happier days are ahead, no doubt. But it’s over 350 days until those gates swing open for the 2021 New York State Fair. Meanwhile, disconsolate Fair fans, financially devastated business owners and idled workers are left to contemplate what might have been.