DATE: Thursday, October 2, 1997             TAG: 9710020552

SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B1   EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA 

SOURCE: JEFFREY S. HAMPTON, STAFF WRITER 

DATELINE: EDENTON                           LENGTH:   86 lines

CHOWAN COUNTY'S LITTLE FAIR STILL ABLE TO DRAW BIG CROWDS

The Chowan County Fair opened its gates this week for the 50th straight year. Organizers hope to break attendance records and win their 12th statewide award since 1979.

``We claim to have the best little fair in North Carolina,'' said Brenda Toppin, secretary of the 16-member board of the Chowan County Fair.

Toppin was busy handing out sodas and balloons to busloads of young schoolchildren who had come to the fair Wednesday morning for Kids Day. The fair is the biggest entertainment event of the year in this rural county.

``A lot of people from big towns come here to enjoy the atmosphere of a small county fair,'' Toppin said. ``We have a lot of local college kids that come back just for the fair.''

Anita Lane, 30, of nearby Perquimans County, has come to the Chowan County Fair since she was 3 years old. Lane's 50-year-old mother began going to the fair as a child. Now Lane takes her 9-year-old son every year.

``Hey, it's the fair. You've got to go,'' Lane said.

The projected 15,000 people who will attend the Chowan County Fair during its nightly run through Saturday is enough to triple the population of Edenton. Tuesday night's attendance of 1,100 was already better than last year, said John Chilcoat, internal vice president and assistant manager of the fair staff. Friday and Saturday will see the biggest crowds.

``Good family entertainment for this price is hard to find,'' Chilcoat said. Tickets are $8.

The 25 rides and three exhibit buildings cover about 12 acres. Another 50 acres provide ample parking and room for the expansion expected for next year.

Inside two of the buildings was the usual display of homemade crafts and homegrown vegetables, the best of them draped in blue ribbons.

Brook Griffin, 6, won the coveted Little Miss Chowan County contest Tuesday night. She is the daughter of Tom and Ginger Griffin.

A new attraction this year was Dino the Dinosaur, who walked around the fairground with a troop of children following. Lisa and Jeff Jackley of Florida, who take turns donning the 10-foot-tall plastic suit, also put on a musical show in the evenings.

``We're really enjoying it,'' Lisa Jackley said while trying to keep children from stepping on Dino's tail. ``Everyone is so nice here.''

The Chowan County Fair is one of 47 county fairs in North Carolina, said Joan Long of the North Carolina Fair Association. Several fairs are older, but the Chowan County Fair has a reputation as one of the best small fairs in the state.

``They have a lot of community involvement, which is what makes a good county fair,'' Long said.

Though county fairs are thriving, she said, it is getting harder to maintain the agricultural exhibits that have long been the tradition. The first county fair in America was started in 1811 in Pittsfield, Mass., to promote agriculture.

The Chowan County Fair began as the American Legion Fair in the last week of September 1947. It was held in what was then the National Guard Armory on Broad Street and is now the Edenton-Chowan Recreation Center.

The American Legion purchased a farm just outside town in 1950 and moved the fair there. It's been there ever since.

William ``Bill'' Perry helped organize the first county fair and served as the fair manager from 1951 to 1994. He is still active in it.

``The American Legion needed a money-raising project,'' Perry said, taking a break from his duties at the fair Wednesday afternoon. ``Some of the members had seen a little fair on the way home from Raleigh and thought it might be good for raising money. That's why we started the fair.''

The fair has had good attendance except some years when it rained up to four out of five days, he said.

``The highest attendance was in 1992. About 17,000 came that year,'' Perry said. ``We're hoping to break that record this year.''

Tickets are $8 each. Children under 2 and seniors over 65 are free (rides not included).

Gates open at 3 p.m. today, 5 p.m. Friday and 1 p.m. Saturday. The fair closes at 11 p.m. today and Friday and at midnight Saturday.

Special events: Tonight - Gospel choirs, 5 p.m. until closing, Regional Youth Talent Show, 8 p.m.

Friday - Earl Davenport & and the Hitts Band, 7 p.m. and 9 p.m.

Saturday - Earl Davenport & and the Hitts Band, 7 p.m and 9:30 p.m. ILLUSTRATION: Color Photo

DREW C. WILSON/The Virginian-Pilot

At the Chowan County Fair, 6-year-old Keyoshia Combs of Cresswell

Elementary School, above, takes a spin Wednesday on the Tornado

ride, while Bertie County first-grade teacher Dawn Dewald, right,

tries her luck in the hoola-hoop contest with first-grade student

Zack Everett. The Chowan County Fair is celebrating its golden

anniversary, and organizers hope to break attendance records this

year.

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