Strange Celebration: Central Pennsylvania In Autumn

Central Pennsylvania is a fascinating place. The area is still very much close-knit and often frozen in time. Old-fashioned gatherings for community fundraisers or simple food preparation are still the norm for this area, just as it has been for the past 200 years. Even simple things like home butchering, done in the autumn, is still done in a community spirit. These photos were all taken between the months of late August and November, between 2012 and 2014.

Treats At Grange Fair

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Waiting For Soup

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Trust me, the homemade bean soup IS worth the wait.

Prize Winner Hopeful

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Merry Go Round

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Cider Pressing

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This is a demonstration of a home press for cider. Apples are dumped in the top and a tractor runs the belt that operates the machine. This press is nearly 100 years old and still makes the best cider around.

Painted Faces

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Win A Soda

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The infamous ring toss has been the bane of central Pennsylvania children for decades. Bracelets are thrown into a tray filled with 2-liter bottles of soda. All proceeds go toward the all-volunteer fire department.

Pressing Lard

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This lard press has been used continuously for over a century by the people in town for their home butchering. Every year, the day after Thanksgiving, as many as thirty people show up and process their own meat. It is sustainable agriculture at its most primitive, using the same equipment their great-grandfathers used.

New Friend

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Lunch

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You have to admit, it's difficult to beat the price of local food.

Win A Watermelon

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Wink has been running the old watermelon stand for a few years now. If you want to win a freshly picked watermelon from the neighbor's yard, plunk down a quarter on the number board and cross your fingers that the wheel picks you.

Stirring Scrapple

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Children are expected to pitch in just as much. This 12 year old has already been a seasoned farm hand for years. Scrapple is boiled down century-old cauldrons and stirred continuously. It is often relegated to newbies and kids because it is so tedious.

Auction

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A Mennonite woman attends a public auction. Auctions are popular gatherings after someone has died or wants to get rid of their belongings. They are also social events. Many are frequented by Amish and Mennonite families looking for furniture and tools for their homes and farms.

Dime Toss

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A popular game at local festivals is the dime toss. Leftover dishes from auctions and yard sales are put on a table and people throw dimes to try to win them. Occasionally you can win a "good" dish.

Tractor Pull

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"It's a full pull! It's a full pull!" A tractor pull is a feat of strength for your trusty field companion. If your tractor can pull the designated weight the full length of the track, you win fame and glory. The rivalry of tractor brands is real. There are fierce loyalties to them. Never question them.

Tenting

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The Central PA Grange Fair is the last "tenting fair" in the country, meaning, thousands of people gather here for a week or so and live in tents. Tents are so heavily desired and difficult to get, that they have been known to be left in wills. There are decorating contests and all the comforts of home in many of them.

Dunk the Dunkard

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Grange Fairgoers

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By the third day of the fair, most people are walking around in a "Fair Food Funk." It is a condition known very well to central Pennsylvanians. They will direct you to the best stands with great passion, but walking to and fro can be an ordeal.