SPRINGFIELD: Farm Fair returns

By Jen Samuel, Managing Editor
   SPRINGFIELD — History is in the making as the 146th Burlington County Farm Fair made its return on Thursday.
   The Farm Fair will continue Friday and Saturday. It is free and open to the public from 9 a.m. to 11 p.m. There is a $10 donation required for parking.
   And for the second consecutive year, it is being held at a 60-acre fair facility within the Burlington County Fairgrounds, on Route 206, in Springfield.
   However, historically, the Farm Fair has taken place on the bucolic grounds before — a very long time ago.
   In fact, a county Farm Fair was held at the Springfield location back in 1946, according to Burlington County Historian Joseph Laufer. He said that there have been two phases of fairs in the county’s history.
   The first county Farm Fair Was held in 1847 and continued until 1926 — mostly at the Mount Holly Fairgrounds, he said, as reported in last week’s paper.
   ”There was an interruption during the Depression and World War II,” he said, noting that there were a few picnics held along the way, until the fair returned in 1946.
   ”The farmers felt, now, it’s a new era,” Mr. Laufer said.
   The first fair held during the second phase at the Lumberton Fairgrounds was in 1958. The fairs continued there for another 51 years through 2010.
   And when the Burlington County Freeholders purchased the current fairgrounds in 2005, it secured a 640-acre site in Springfield Township — where a fairgrounds facility could be built.
   ”It became a true fairgrounds,” Mr. Laufer said.
   ”The county has stepped in as well as the state to preserve as much farmland in the county (as possible),” he said.
   ”This will be the 146th fair,” Mr. Laufer said last week of the 2012 event.
   ”We have a very strong farming community,” he said.
   This year’s theme is “Bounty of the County” — which aims to capture the essence of the agricultural flavor of Burlington County, according to an event press release.
   Said Mr. Laufer, “It’s one of the top farmland preservation counties in all of New Jersey.”
   It is anticipated that 60,00 to 70,000 people will attend the fair, Paul Shinn told the Register-News last week. He is the president of the Burlington County Farm Fair and Central Jersey Tractor Pullers Association.
   Prior to the fair, the second annual Tractor Parade returned on Sunday in which dozens upon dozens of tractors paraded through local towns — covering 35 miles within the area.
   Visit www.burlingtoncountyfarmfair.com.