Grahamsville Hosts
Little World's Fair

By Ted Waddell
GRAHAMSVILLE — August 22, 2000 – It may call itself a little fair, but the Neversink Agricultural Society’s 121st annual Little World’s Fair is a big deal.
This year, several thousand people turned out to take advantage of suddenly sunny skies and visited the Grahamsville Fairgrounds during the four-day event.
The fair kicked off on Thursday with the opening of the Sullivan County Youth Fair. After the Grahamsville Little World’s Fair began on Friday, the Youth Fair ran concurrently with the main event.
The 121st Little World’s Fair was dedicated to the memory of Ryan Petrowsky (1995-99), “The Child Within Us All.”
The Little World’s Fair has been around for a long time. With the exception of 1927, the year a great flood decimated the rural community and washed out the old bridge over Chestnut Creek, the Little World’s Fair has been held every year since 1878.
This year’s somewhat chilly weather kept the bees in their hives, keeping fairgoers visiting the local beekeepers association’s exhibit a bit in the dark as to what makes a bee colony buzz, but a couple of sisters from the Upper Beechwoods in Callicoon maintained their tradition of enjoying juicy sweet slices of watermelon every time they come to the fair.
“I love the fair because it’s like an old fashioned county fair,” said Jude Waterston. “We come every year, and we get watermelon every time.”
Added her sister Janet Waterston, “I love the fair. It’s just the right size. It’s neighborly, there’s lots of stuff to do and it’s lots of fun.”
One of the highlights of the fair was an exhibit of old farm tractors. It was presented by the newly established Neversink Rondout Antique Machinery Association.
On Friday night, the old tractors strutted their stuff before the crowds at a tractor parade.
“I think it’s a great fair,” said Roy Denman of Grahamsville, a veteran fairgoer and member of the club devoted to preserving old machinery.
“People can look at all the old tractors and see what we used to have to work with,” he added.
Eighty-two-year-old Henry Kellner of Pine Bush used to work on the area’s reservoirs, dams and tunnels.
Taking a break from watching the draft horses from the Hudson Valley Draft Horse Association parade around the show ring, he reflected upon his third trip to the annual Grahamasville Little World’s Fair.
“I like it,” he said. “But the hills have gotten a little steeper since I worked around here. Back then, it seemed like it was all flat.”