Memories of the Iselin Fair... part 2

More of Brian Lanigan's memories of the fair. If you want to read the whole article, you can go to his blog, HERE.

From what I remember, the stage shows, even for a young child, were a bit corny. For better or worse, they were all part of the fair experience and something to look forward to every year. But wrestling a bear?? C’mon! At the young age of 5 or 6, I remember feeling sorry for the bear. If animals could be humiliated, I’m sure he was. Now such an act would be considered animal cruelty. In the late 70's there was a guy "Flamo, the Magnificent"(or something like that) who did tricks with fire, swords, and other sharp objects. This was an act I throughly enjoyed. One year an act involving several chimps was the main attraction. Not even a minute into the act, however, the whole purpose of the show became trying to keep the little guys from escaping into the crowd. I was rooting for the chimps !

Another time, in the late 70s, the fair broke tradition and had a young local rock band who played a twenty minute version of "Smoke on the Water". Without a doubt, the song was the highlight of the evening. Most acts were not worth remembering, thus fading into oblivion.

The friendly fatherly voice of the man who did the announcements from the side of the stage is something impossible to forget. "We have Tommy here at the stage, his parents are lost". You could hear the kid crying in the background. Sometimes he would have to make the announcement two or three times. Didn’t the moronic parents notice their kid was gone?

As a kid, my friends and I thought the music playing over the PA was a bit lame and old fashioned to say the least. As I grew older, I started to enjoy and even look forward to it as part of the whole fair experience. "In heaven there is no beer...", "Roll out the barrel..." "I don’t want her, You can have her, She’s too fat for me..." are now all songs associated with the fair. Sometimes, if the beer was flowing just right, pockets of people would sing along. You could always count on "Celebrity Corner" for at least one chorus on Friday or Saturday night. When I go to the "new" asphalt fair, the music from our youth no longer plays and I miss it. Does anyone know the name of the record they used? I am sure it was some kind of polka party.