A day at the fair, a trip through time

When you’re a kid, the adults keep you in the dark. You see them staying up late, drinking or eating things you aren’t allowed, watching movies you can’t watch. So when you become an adult, and see what it is, it doesn’t quite meet your expectations. Instead, it feels like, while on paper you’re grown up, you worry that everyone will realize you feel like three kids in a trench coat faking your way through the day.

There is a place, however, where you can let down the mask and let your inner kid run around, basking in wonder and fun. For that, you need to get on the Ferris wheel at the Sandwich Fair.

It might not be the only ride with significant altitude at a fair, but a Zipper or Ring of Fire goes too fast or flips you around too much to get a good view. Besides, if your stomach is as weak as mine, you’ll probably be nauseous enough afterward that you can’t enjoy anything else as you struggle to keep those corn dogs and funnel cakes down.

It was atop the Ferris wheel on Saturday that I got the best view of the Sandwich Fair. I’ve covered fairs and carnivals all over Illinois during my journalism career, but somehow it took me until now to get to Sandwich. It did not disappoint.

Up above it all, I saw the neon lights of the midway, the livestock barns where my son wanted so desperately to pet the cows and enter the pig raffle. We heard the roar of the tractor pull.

The downside of getting the big picture is you’re just an observer. It’s tough to interact with something from afar. A fair is a place that reminds you that you once were a kid. And while you may be an adult, it doesn’t mean you have to grow up.

We were greeted by rows of big machines, enough to excite any kid. My suburban upbringing meant I had little contact with agriculture or industry. Even now, the biggest machine in my house is a battery-operated snowblower, so walking past rows of tower bulldozers, tractors and their associated accessories is a special treat for the kid in me.

The lights and sounds of the games on the midway are more than nostalgic. It’s an experience not just my childhood, but from my parents’ and grandparents’ pasts as well. Generations of Solaris have fallen for a carnival barker, goaded into spending money on a test of skill to win a prize for the lady on their arm. Now, however, we’ve dispensed with the illusion and each game is play until you win.

Then there’s the food, so much of it on sticks.

Chicken and hot dogs, steaks and pork chops, all perfectly engineered to be eaten as you walk across the fair, making sure you never stay in one place too long. A fair also will fry anything, it seems. You may think a deep-fried Oreo sounds excessive, but not until you’ve tried one. Should your dinner as an adult be just fried carbs? Probably not, but your younger self would think you’re the coolest person in the world.

Even though summer is wrapping up, and with it carnivals and festivals that seem to take up every weekend, it’s good to remember that these community affairs aren’t just fundraisers for different organizations, or civic events.

They’re a chance to get out and see your neighbors, meet someone from afar, or just let your inner kid loose for a bit.

• Kevin Solari is Regional Editor for Shaw Media and the Kendall County Record/Record newspapers.