A mother’s view
A fair lesson learned from baking eyeball cupcakes


The Altamont Fair, modern and high-tech" That’s the first impression entrants receive, when they log onto altamontfair.com to download entry forms and read the premium book on-line.

Fair entries have been available on-line for several years, but we at The Enterprise office missed the milestone. We weren’t the only ones: Robert Santorelli, the president of the fair board, told The Enterprise last week that he’d only logged onto the site this year, himself.

When I visited the website to get a fair entry form for my young son, I expected to see pictures of cows and sheep. Instead, the site’s banner is of a young, glitzy couple, who look as if they’re on their way to Saratoga, not Altamont.
"It used to be all agriculture," Santorelli said. "Now, it’s trying to be more younger families."
Santorelli, like many of the fair board members, grew up attending the fair every year, and eventually came to work there. "I started there as a food guy," he said. He does not handle agricultural events for the fair, he said — that is fellow board member Andrew King’s job.
"My job is to keep everyone happy," Santorelli said. "I like it. It’s my hobby, I guess."
He said that the 146 acres of fairgrounds require a lot of maintenance, with their many buildings. When asked about its financial troubles in the past, Santorelli said that the fair’s woes were in the 1990’s. "It’s over with. It’s done," he said.
The board has "put $600,000 back into the fairgrounds," said Santorelli, part of which included installing continuous blacktop.
"The place is really looking good. No one gets paid to work there, except maintenance," he said.
The fair’s "biggest small event" is still the racing pigs, he said. "It’s packed for every single show," Santorelli said.

The biggest fair attraction is the demolition derby, he said. This year’s derby is billed as the largest in history.

The two people-packing events highlight the dual facets of the fair: agriculture and technology. The fair website offers this history:
"Our emphasis will continue to be on agriculture. This becomes more difficult each year, as we see the surrounding agricultural community shrink and give way to housing developments and industry. We want to continue to maintain a family atmosphere during our Fair to make"the Altamont Fair the best that it can be in terms of entertainment, as a an educational experience and as a showcase for our history and traditions."
Mary Bayham, of Bethlehem, has made entering the fair one of her family traditions. Her son made a "Santa’s belly" pillow by overstuffing red fabric and leaving some of the stuffing poking out of the seams. Bayham’s children also made a sewn nativity set with a background stable and individual animals. A pinecone turkey kept the menagerie company.
"Every year, I say it’s too much work, but they have so much fun, I just have to do a craft," Bayham said.

As Bayham labelled her work last Friday at the fairgrounds, B.J. Lazarou, of Colonie, checked in her own crafts with Violet Whitbeck, of Duanesburg.

On Sunday afternoon, my son, who is seven, turned in his own entry: eyeball cupcakes. I didn’t let him take the baking tin out of the oven, but I watched him do everything else. I asked him why he entered the fair.
"One: so I can win a prize. Two: to get money," he said.
"And, because it’s fun, right" Even if you don’t win a ribbon"" I prompted.
Yeah, he finally agreed, because it’s fun. And when his paintbrush became globbed with frosting, and his arm ached from decorating his cakes, he said, "This is hard work."

The Altamont Fair really is an educational experience and a showcase for traditions.