More Street Fair 2008 pics

Here are more of Joe Ayers pictures from the 2008 Bluffton Street Fair.

Just a couple more months until the 2009 Street Fair comes to town...I can almost smell the elephant ears and corn dogs...

Street Fair 2008

Joe Ayers sent along a bunch of pictures he took at the 2008 Bluffton Street Fair, so I've included them here.

If you have some photos you'd like me to post, feel free to drop me an e-mail
jerryb@news-banner.com

Bluffton Street Fair Archive

Check out these photos from past street fairs. Great shots of days gone by...the street was dirt back then, but the crowds were just as big.

If you have some old street fair photos you'd like to share, please send them to us at jerryb@news-banner.com. Please include your name, and whatever information you have about the photo and its subjects.

Street Fair 100th Anniversary 2010

This is the first in an occasional series of stories leading up to the 100th Bluffton Street Fair in September of 2010.
Rhonda Ryan, who is leading the effort to put together a special celebration 18 months from now, and Barb Elliot of the Wells Historical Society is working on a commemorative book that will be sold during the 2010 Street Fair. They want stories, memories, photographs, and ideas.
Those with something to share can e-mail the News-Banner at newsroom@news-banner.com or contact Ryan at 827-0175.


Plans are in the works to make the 100th Street Fair in 2010 a very special event
By DAVE SCHULTZ
This September, Bluffton will host its 99th Street Fair. That means in 2010, Bluffton will host its 100th.
That should be a show.
“The Bluffton Street Fair is enjoyed by a lot of people in Wells County,” said Rhonda Ryan, who will chair that special celebration 18 mnths from now. “It is the only fair in Indiana that has been going on for 100 years — expect the State Fair and maybe some county fairs.”
2010 may be the 100th year for a Street Fair, but that doesn’t mean the first one was in 1910. Actually, the first fair was held in 1898.
“They apparently held off during World War I and World War II,” Ryan says. “There was also the Depression.”
Regardless, the dash for the 100th event is under way. Ryan and the committees that are planning the 2010 event are wanting stories, artifacts, anything that tells the story of the Bluffton Street Fair.
Barb Elliott of the Wells County Historical Society is compiling information for a book that will be on sale during the 100th fair.
There will be a Bluffton Street Fair in 2009, which will be the 99th. The committee is working to be sure that fair will be terrific, too. “Committee members are already working on it,” Ryan said during an interview earlier this month.
However, there are already plans being put in place for the 2010 fair. The hopes are that each night will have a different parade, with different entertainment each night. “We’re working on a grand marshal,” she said. “It will be a big name.”
What else? A beard contest for the men and a hat contest for the ladies. Costumes from different decades. Special souvenirs. A double Ferris wheel.
“And I’m sure there’s going to be some surprises,” she said.
Ryan has her own history with the fair. She’s the second generation of her family to be involved; her father, Keith Johns, also helped to plan the fair; he died in 1989 and his daughter joined the board in 1990. She remembers coming as a girl, getting corn dogs on a stick, eating cotton candy, going on the rides. She had a Kewpie doll on a stick, and Ryan, now 56, remembers that toy fondly.
“When you grow up in Wells County or Bluffton, it’s part of your growing up,” she said. “It’s a special time.”
daves@news-banner.com

Street Fair Blog Archive

Hi!
I am sure you've noticed this Blog has not been updated since the 2008 Bluffton Street Fair.
Very likely it will not be updated again until we get a little closer to next year's fair. Please feel to cruise through the Posts, however. We'll keep these pictures around until next year...

Farewell, adieu, until next year

On Saturday the 2008 Bluffton Street Fair drew to a close. With everything from the Diaper Derby to a Halloween Parade, the last day of the Fair was all about the kids.

More Horse Pull Pics

Here are a few more of Frank Shanly's shots from Saturday.