Laurel: To the celebration of the summer. The event of the season is upon us — the opening of the 70th Westmoreland Fair.
Maybe you come to the fair to show off the produce from your garden. Maybe you have a child entering livestock in the 4-H and FFA events. Are you baking chocolate cakes or apple pies for the competition to go to the state Farm Show?
Not everything’s about a contest. Some people flock to the fair for the pure fun. That could be taking a spin on the Ferris wheel. It might be eating your weight in corn dogs and funnel cake. You do you. We won’t judge.
But whether you want to take home blue ribbons or spend your money trying to win a stuffed animal, this is one of those things where the cliché is true. There really is something for everyone at the Westmoreland Fair. The event runs Aug. 16-24 at the fairgrounds in Mt. Pleasant Township.
Lance: To ravenous deer. Another rite of summer didn’t happen this year. The Schwirian Farm Sunflower Festival was supposed to run from Aug. 2-11.
It didn’t. It wasn’t called on account of weather. It was another natural phenomenon: deer.
According to owner Leslee Schwirian, days before the event kicked off, there were just 10 blossoms left. The hungry wildlife descended on the farm and chomped their way through about half a million sunflowers.
They came by night, avoiding the farmers who tried to deter them earlier in the day. The deer even had a bit of a picky palate. They devoured only the brightly colored blooms. They left the green stalks behind.
Between the decimated crop and the canceled festival — which can bring in as many as 20,000 visitors — the cost just to the farm is about $60,000. That doesn’t count the loss to other vendors and food trucks that participate.
Schwirian blames drought for forcing the deer to find alternate food sources and hopes the event will be back next year.
