70th annual fair a strong partnership
New walk-in refrigerator added to make life easier for volunteers
OLEY >> The 70th Annual Oley Valley Community Fair kicks off Thursday, Sept. 15. This year the Oley Fire Company and the fair organizers have partnered to make life a little easier for many volunteers.
A new walk-in refrigerator has been installed in the rear of the French Fry Building. The purpose of the new refrigerator is primarily to make better use of space and to ease in the unloading of shipments, according to Fair President Kevin Bieber.
“All of the events are getting bigger and bigger. We needed space for food and bottled water. For past several years, every morning of the fair we unload by hand roughly a hundred 30-pound bags of French fries,” said Beiber, emphasizing on the manual labor involved.
The walk-in refrigerator was chosen for its design that will
allow the French fries and other shipments to come in bins and then those bins can be unloaded with fork lift directly into the fridge. The milkshake mixes and soda were among some other heavyweight items mentioned.
“This is going to make life a lot easier for everybody that volunteers their time and is involved,”
said Beiber. “We’re trying to make everything less labor intensive.” The new addition is expected to save on time and labor.
Something not everyone may know: the fairgrounds are primarily owned by the fire company, with exception to a few parcels.
“Everything we do for the most part — and when I say ‘we’ I mean the fair and the fire company — it’s a joint effort. We have a very strong partnership between the two organizations.” Beiber said many folks are involved in both organizations. “That makes life easier too, as far as communication goes and discussing needs and wants.”
The fire company has always owned the ground. There’s a long-term lease agreement between the fire company and the fair for the use of the fairgrounds during the week of the fair.
“As time has gone on, the partnership between the two organizations is prob- ably at its strongest point that it’s ever been at.”
Beiber credits the success of the 70-year partnership to the people involved and the communication efforts between the two groups.
The Oley Community Fair runs 9 a.m. to 10 p.m. Thursday through Saturday at the Oley fairgrounds.