BLOOMSBURG — Gambling revenue from Pennsylvania slots will help boost purses and attract more harness racing competitors for the Bloomsburg Fair, a fair spokesman said Wednesday.
The purses in 16 horse races will total more than $150,000, said John Flick, supervisor of free entertainment at the fair, which will be held from Sept. 25 to Oct. 2. “We should have a lot of horses compete.”
Racing starts at 10:30 a.m. Monday through Thursday of fair week.
Slots machines are taxed at a rate of 55 percent, and the commonwealth’s horse racing industry gets 12 percent of the slots revenue.
In 2009, there were nine slots facilities operating in Pennsylvania that collectively contributed $235.7 million to the Pennsylvania Race Horse Development Fund, an increase of $41.8 million over 2008, state officials said. Most of that money goes to the permanent tracks, but the 19 fairs that offer harness racing, including Bloomsburg, receive a share.
Flick said there will be ample things to do at the fair, which consistently attracts 500,000 people during the eight days of the fair.
“For an eight-day fair, we are among the top 10 in the nation,” he said. “We would break 600,000 if we had one week without rain.”
On any given day of the fair, the population of the Bloomsburg Fair is five times the population of the town that gives the event its name.
People going to this year’s Bloomsburg Fair should find among the free entertainment a new high-diving “Pirates of the Caribbean,” Rainforest animals and a strolling “Barney of Mayberry.”
The Pirates show, with a finale dive from more than 70 feet in the air, is a “real thrill show with fighting on a pirate ship,” said fair board president Todd Lehman.
Robert and Christy Mullen will present the Rainforest experience.
Scott “Barney” Epperson will portray “Barney Fife” of “The Andy Griffith Show.”
“He walks around giving out tickets and doing some zany stuff,” Flick said. “Once again we have a full schedule on the free stage.”
Covering 300 acres and with more than 1,000 exhibits, the fair is Pennsylvania’s largest in terms of area and attendance, Lehman said.
He said the “Dock Dogs,” of TV fame, are back by popular request by the public.
“They were really big last year,” he said.
Tony Frazier, who is in charge of concessions, said there are new vendors, including craftspeople painting glass and making candles and furniture.
Jeff Giger, livestock superintendent, expects more than 1,300 animals to be exhibited, about 50 more than last year.
”The 4-H programs are really working well in the area with them showcasing their animals to the public,” Giger said.
Lehman quipped his children couldn’t get their rabbits in the fair because of the number of animals entered this year.
New this year will be public barn tours at 10:30 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. daily, along with a scavenger hunt for all ages.
“Education is our primary mission of the fair and we need to teach a lot of kids where their food comes from,” said Lehman, who expects more and more schools to participate in the agriculture tours.
Also back by popular demand is a Cinderella carriage offering for the first time rides to the public along the back side of the track.
“When this is lighted at night, it is something to see,” Lehman said of the carriage.
Also new are inexpensive helicopter rides, according to William Barratt who is in charge of parking and police. The rides, by a professional pilot from Reading, will be $10 each.
“The lines are going to be long,” Barratt said of rides, to be offered from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. daily.
Carey Howell, who supervises grandstand acts, said track tickets for Lady Antebellum are sold out and other seats are going quickly.
He expects comic Jeff Dunham “to put on a great show.”
There will be standing-room-only on the track with no seats to see rockers “Theory of a Deadman” and special guest “Default.”
Other grandstand entertainment will include “REO Speedwagon,” Craig Morgan with special gust Gloriana, demolition derbies, Figure 8 racing with a rollover and horse pulling.
If it doesn’t rain Sept. 25, the fair will host new lawnmower racing on Sept. 26.
“These are souped-up lawnmowers I’m told that can go up to 70 mph,” Lehman said.
The fair board recognized William Streater, who is in charge of the horticulture building and is retiring after 38 years.
George Sudol, of the Watsontown area, presented Lehman with the proof set of gold fair coins depicting a steer head. This is the sixth in a series since 2005 he has designed for the fair, along with other collectibles to be sold at the fair.
E-mail comments to kblackledge@dailyitem.com
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