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August 9, 2012

Residents line streets for annual parade

By Ryan Smith The Meadville Tribune

COCHRANTON — Levi Freer said he looks forward to the Cochranton Community Fair every summer — and for him, the animals are (mostly) what it’s all about.

“I like to watch the horse pulls very much,” said the 10-year-old. “And I enjoy going to the barns and looking at all the goats,” and the cows, and the pigs and “all the different breeds” a kid can check out at the fairgrounds.

But for his mom, Erin Freer, the fair’s parade is where it’s at — and throughout Cochranton’s main streets is where that was Wednesday evening. Sitting curbside on West Adams Street with the rest of their family (9-year-old A.J. and dad Daniel Freer), they were among the hundreds — and hundreds — who lined the streets for the popular annual event, one of the traditional highlights of the long-standing community fair.

“I was explaining to my son that there’s more action and more activity” to  be found at a parade — “especially for the bands and the music,” Freer said shortly after the multi-award-winning Cochranton High School marching band had paraded by the family’s spot.

“Of all the parades I’ve been to,” said Freer — a Dubois native who’s lived in Cochranton for about seven years — Cochranton’s “is right up there” with the biggest and best.

A specific tally on the number of units participating in Wednesday’s parade wasn’t immediately available as of the Tribune’s publication deadline, but figures from previous years indicate around 150 units usually participate.

While that event’s wrapped up for another year, there’s a lot more happening as fair — now in its 84th year — continues through Saturday with live bands performing nightly, a variety of exhibits, judging events, fireworks and more.

One of the largest and most-attended annual events of its kind in Crawford County, the Cochranton Community Fair is one of the few remaining free-admission fairs in the region, according to organizers.

And what’s there is “perfect small-town America,” said Freer.



Schedule

The 84th annual Cochranton Community Fair continues through Saturday. Admission to the fair — one the region’s largest and most-attended yearly agricultural events — is free.

Here’s some of what’s happening through the end of Cochranton’s fair week:



Today

n 1 p.m.— Halter class horse judging

n 7 — Kids’ goat milking competition; People pull

n 8 to 11 — Live music by Echo



Friday

n 8 p.m. — Cow chip bingo

n 8 to 11 — Live music by Sierra



Saturday

n 9 a.m. — Exhibitors, horse show

n 10 — Pet parade

n noon — Rabbit dress-up contest

n 1 p.m. — Pedal tractor pull (ages 4 through 9), followed by kids’ water battles

n 6 — Garden tractor pull

n Dusk — Fireworks sponsored by Mercer County State Bank and Girardat Transportation

n 8 to 11 — Live music by Fraxurd

 

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