CANFIELD, Ohio – Some of the most interesting people at the Canfield Fair can be found tucked away in its side streets and peripheries.
For examples, check out the International Stage on the north edge of the fairgrounds. There you’ll find performers like singer Bernadette Lim, who share their culture and heritage.
With family roots in the Philippines, Lim has performed at the fair many times. She’ll return to the stage at 7 p.m. Saturday with a program that includes a song in Tagalog – the language of the Philippines – plus some of her original tunes.
Lim will also perform her own solo version of the Pandanggo sa Ilaw, or Candle Dance, a folk custom of the Philippines.
“It will be an homage to the Filipino dance,” she said. “There’s usually a group of women that will dance with [lit] candles on their heads and in their hands, and I’m doing a modern spin on that.”
Lim came to America from the Philippines when her father found work here. She was once fluent in the native tongue but admits she has to brush up on it for conversational purposes.
“I understand every word of Tagalog and I can translate up and down,” she said. “But it’s very hard for me to speak it. When I was very little, I spent three months in the Philippines and when I came back [to the United States], I was speaking in Tagalog to my preschool teachers. They requested that I stop speaking it, and I lost all of that knowledge. But I’m trying to relearn it because I would like to visit my family in the Philippines.”
A musician, singer and dancer, Lim has also been involved in the local theater community and in rock bands.
She was a keyboardist in The Zou, a popular Youngstown rock band, before it broke up.
Lim recently returned from Los Angeles, where she performed as a dancer in the record release party for Munnycat. That electro-pop band includes Youngstown natives Khaled Tabbara, who was the leader of The Zou, and Katianne Timko.
At its core, the Canfield Fair is an amusement park, a concert venue and a place where the farming community flexes its muscle.
The six-day Brigadoon of the Buckeye State opened Wednesday and will run through Labor Day.
Mostly clear skies and comfortable temperatures are in the forecast, which could lead to record attendance.
Country music superstar Brad Paisley will perform at the grandstand Sunday, and Rock Hall of Famers Lynyrd Skynyrd will close the fair Monday night.
For ticket information and schedules, go to canfieldfair.com.
HORSING AROUND
Lim isn’t the only rock’n’roller who has become a fixture at the fair.
Candace Campana, who fronts her own band, has been competing in various equine events at the fair for the past 16 years.
She brought her horse Sunny Boy again this year and will ride or handle him in the halter, showmanship, Western, English and costume competitions.
Campana will be in formal riding gear for the events. “We pretend we’re fancy once a year at the fair,” she said with a laugh.
The Greenford resident got Sunny Boy when he was a 3-year-old. Now, he is 19. But she has been around horses most of her life.
“When I was a kid my mom had a family horse for us, so I’ve been around horses since I was 8,” she said. “But I started getting serious with horses at the fair when I got Sunny Boy.”
Since then, she has won her share of ribbons. “Sunny Boy was the grand champion in the halter in the past, and I’m hoping we can do it again,” she said. “But I love him so much that I don’t care if he wins. I just love being here with him.”
Horses aren’t Campana’s only involvement at the fair. She has entered several crafts competitions and shows.
“Today, I placed first in the Dress a Pumpkin Like a Rooster contest, and second in the Dress a Pumpkin Like a Person,” she said. “I did Elvira.”
She described her rooster pumpkin as a “red, white and bluester,” dressed like a veteran.
She also placed third in the cross-stitch competition, and has submitted wine for judging.
Campana also sings the National Anthem before the equine events and sometimes before the truck and tractor pull. Up next for her rock band is a show with The Vindys and Wine & Spirit on Sept. 13 at Big Rail Brewing in Grove City, Pa.
WHAT’S OLD AND NEW
For many people, the highlight of the fair is always the antique engines.
The primitive, sputtering gasoline-powered motors on display north of the grandstand are truly from another era. They operate at low RPMs, with the single spark plug firing about every 10 seconds
Doug Weingart of Green Township is among those who are fascinated with the antique engines. He has five of them running at the fair, and watches over them while occasionally bantering with visitors.
“I started coming here 35 years ago, and fell in love with small engines,” he said.
“Farmers would use them to pump water from a creek or to grind corn or flour,” he said. “Anything that you would use an electric motor for.”
Weingarten is also the owner of Anderson Specialty Gutters in Canfield.
The fair is a place where farmers can also find what’s new in their field.
When asked what’s the latest thing in agriculture, fair board member Eldon Falb did not hesitate.
“Some of the newest cutting edge items in agriculture are drones,” he said. “They are taking over the spraying, seeding and crop surveillance, where we look at how the crops are doing. Using infrared cameras, they can pick up disease and other things that we can’t see with the naked eye.”
The drones are eight feet in length, with six rotors, and can carry up to 18 gallons of liquid. The average cost is around $40,000, which includes a landing trailer and pumping equipment.
“Spraying two gallons per acre, you can do eight to 10 acres with one pass,” he said.
Although the massive drones are unmanned and controlled remotely, the operator is required to have a pilot’s license to use one.
Falb said the weather is looking great for the fair – which brings him mixed feelings.
“It looks like we’ll have perfect temperatures and weather,” he said. “But I’m in the ag world and I’d love to see a two-inch overnight rain. We are dry!”
There is a slight chance of rain Thursday evening, but the four-day weekend forecast calls for clear skies.
DANGERS OF DRUGS
Donna McAuley has made it her life’s work to warn young people of the dangers of drugs.
Her daughter, Amanda, died of a fentanyl overdose in 2023 at age 27. A 2014 Poland High School graduate, Amanda was a professional model who was also pursuing an acting career. Her life was full of potential when is abruptly ended.
After her death, Donna started A.M. Wake Up Call, a nonprofit organization that aims to raise awareness of illicit drug use and prevent deaths.
She has a booth in the middle section of the fairgrounds, where teens are most likely to congregate. Photos of Amanda line the walls of the booth, and visitors can learn about a play McAuley commissioned about her daughter’s life and death.
Titled “Amanda,” the play will premiere Oct. 11 at Powers Auditorium. To purchase tickets or learn more, go to amwakeupcall.org.
Stacy Anderson is the director of the play, which has a cast of 50 actors, singers and models.
“I am on a mission,” McAuley said.
Her goal is to get schools across the country to perform the play for students.
“My daughter had an amazing life,” McAuley said. “I’m going to keep putting her face out there. If it saves one life, it’s worth it.”
McAuley also wrote a song, “Choices,” that is a theme for the play.
BEAUTIFICATION
At the west edge of the fairgrounds sits Western Reserve Village, a recreation of what a town in this region would have looked like in the 1800s.
The longtime staple of the fair is kept beautiful by the Holborn Herb Growers Guild, which maintains herb and flower gardens around several structures.
Stephanie Endsley, vice president and garden chairman of the guild, maintains one of the gardens.
“We do these beautiful gardens and because of them we do fundraisers every year,” she said.
A plant sale takes place in May and a tea party in the fall.
The tea will take place Sept. 21 at 1 p.m. at the Lariccia Family Community Center in Boardman Park. “We also garden at St. James Meeting Hall in the park,” Endsley said.
Guest speaker will be Alice Crosetto, author of “The Cookie Table: A Steel Valley Tradition.” Tickets are $25. To purchase, call 330 507 8565.
Pictured at top: The Ferris Wheel dominates the skyline on Wednesday morning, shortly after the opening of the 179th Canfield Fair.