Walt Mares Photo/Gila Herald: People enjoy a bird’s eye view of the local scenery, earthbound carnival critters, and other people at the 2019 Greenlee County Fair on Saturday, Sept.. 21 at the fairgrounds in Duncan. There were several rides to be enjoyed and most riders were younger people or families that included little ones.
A good time was had by all
By Walt Mares
DUNCAN – It was everything that it was billed to be. Much fun for families and individuals, many entertaining carnival rides, vendor booths with unique offerings and plenty of good food. It was the 2019 Greenlee County Fair held Sept. 19-22 at the fairgrounds in Duncan.
What added to the pleasure of the day were rather mild temperatures, somewhere around the high 80s. The week prior to the fair the outdoor temps soared into the high 90s and were often on the cusp of reaching 100.
Indeed, it was all of what a county fair in an isolated rural area of Arizona was expected to be. After all, Greenlee is the second smallest of Arizona’s 15 counties and has the smallest population. That seemed not to matter for those who attended the fair. In fact, many were of the opinion that the fair surpassed expectations and every year the fair is becoming better and better.
Among the fair’s advantages was that most who attended were mostly a homegrown crowd from Duncan, Morenci, Clifton and its outlying communities of Loma Linda and Verde Lee. There were, however, several people from neighboring Graham County, other Arizona locales and next-door New Mexico. Duncan is only about six miles from the New Mexico border.
Folks from different communities mingled and saw or met up with people they had not seen or heard from for a long time. To some degree, the fair also served as something of a county reunion. There were those who decades ago were participants in the fair via livestock, smaller animals, art exhibits, photography and other projects. Some of those folks were now viewing projects of theirs or others’ grandchildren.
Indeed, there were many projects on display in the exhibition building and much action in the auction barn. Many folks were just sort of milling around taking it all in, seeing what there was to see, hearing what there was to hear among carnival sounds, or tasting what foods were offered. Of course, there were many young parents with their babes in arms or in strollers. It was only natural that old friends stopped to admire and coo over the children, those still learning to walk and those who had recently graduated to the level of becoming a new pedestrian.
While the crowd was pretty large during the day, it became even bigger as the sun began setting. The night was more comfortable and the increased attendance may have had something to do with attraction wrought by flashing carnival lights becoming more visible in the darkening setting. Add to that the attractions of a live band and a cooler environment to dance without working up a real hard sweat.
There were also two rodeos, a sport always highly popular in Greenlee County. The bottom line was that it was quite evident that a good time was had by all.
Click here to view a photo album from the fair.
