Students seek "other" VT at fair

Author: Will Mallett

The 162nd Vermont State Fair went out with a bang on Sunday as the long-anticipated demolition derby wrapped up 10 days of festivities. For the handful of Middlebury students lucky enough to attend, the fair provided a slew of opportunities both recreational and anthropological as events such as the tractor pull and the pig run became centers of attention.

The fair exemplified a culture that to many students may seem much like a sideshow to their own Vermont experience, garrisoned inside those mighty fortress-like buildings that mark the boundaries of our campus and our familiarity. Of those curious to witness firsthand this "other" Vermont, several may have had their presumptions challenged.

Jenny Erwin '10 never suspected that her trip to Rutland would lead to a full-scale embrace by that community, as it did when she cinched the victory in the state hula-hoop competition. She went to the fair hoping to catch a glimpse of rural America in all its glory - to see the sights and smell the smells of the Jeffersonian dream. What she ended up smelling instead were the fruits of victory, and the glory - well, that was all hers. After finishing up work with the Middlebury Outdoor Orientation crew, Erwin had left campus just an average college student on that warm and breezy day. When she returned, it was as a winner. The Middlebury community will surely be glad to count yet another athletic champion among its members.

Erwin was unavailable for comment, but Kelsey Bakas '10, a friend who also competed, was eager to respond.

"I have never been good at hula-hooping so I knew I had no chance of winning the competition," said Bakas. "But I did the best I have ever done and I am seriously considering practicing a lot so if I should ever have to perform again it won't be so embarrassing. Jenny was awesome though. I need to take lessons from her."

Although Erwin was the only person to win the hula-hoop competition, many people still had a good time. According to Lilly Corenthal '10, the fair as a whole was exciting. "It was great," she said. "Some highlights were the award-winning barn animals and vegetables, hog race, donkey auction and tractor pull. I now feel better connected to Vermont beyond Middlebury."

The romance of the experience may have been lost on some.

"There was a little Himalayan mountain ride that was thuggin' out to Creed. Nickelback was playing on another one Ö I watched the horse pulls for a bit," said Gus Goodwin '08. As for that "other" Vermont, Goodwin could take it or leave it.