durham fair

He said he didn't need any money or help or anything else, just wanted us to give him permission to set up on the front lawn. We said, 'Sure.'"
The stranger was Justin Pianka, a 13-year Civil War re-enactment participant, and his request was to set up camp - literally - in front of the Historical Society.
Pianka will be demonstrating the life and times of the Civil War with an encampment set up for the full three days of the Durham Fair. The re-enactment activist is hoping to recruit new members to the 20th Connecticut Infantry, Company E, a new re-enactment unit formed in the area.
Pianka said many of the original Connecticut infantry originated in New Haven and Middlesex counties.
"We're reliving the original unit from the Civil War," Pianka explained. "I'll be cooking over an open fire and living the life of countrymen from the Civil War era ... the whole kit and caboodle."
Pianka will be in the company of his girlfriend, Nicole Sozanski, who has been a paraplegic since she was a child, due to polio. Sozanski plans to be there throughout the period of the fair and will do so in an original 1850s wheelchair.
Sozanski portrays Pianka's wife during re-enactments and will be at the encampment to present the more feminine side of the time period.
"She's going to be showing the fashions of the era," Pianka said, "Back then, women wore five layers of clothes."
Pianka will set up camp at 7 a.m. Friday and plans to be present in full officer's uniform all three days.
"It's actually a hobby," he said. "It's an expensive hobby, to be honest," he admitted, but added it's a great experience for families. He says he will be sleeping on the ground. "(Sozanski) can have the cot, I'll rough it."
Pianka hopes to get more people involved in the process of re-enactments and says the unit for the 20th Connecticut infantry is more family-oriented than some other units.
"Some units are more male-oriented, but we think families should be involved in stuff like this ... it's like a big camping trip."
Atwell says the Historical Society will have pictures of soldiers from the Civil War era, as well as other artifacts and war drums.
The encampment will be set up just outside of the fairgrounds on the front lawn of the Historical Society.
DURHAM - There is always a degree of urgency in the days leading to the opening of the Durham Fair. This year the urgency was a bit more heightened as officials scrambled to make sure there would be enough water for the throngs expected this weekend.

The Durham Agricultural Fair Association, the volunteer organization that runs the Durham Fair, is gearing up for its 88th annual event this weekend and the 150,000 people that usually pass through the turnstiles for the state's largest country fair. The fair begins Friday and runs through Sunday.

Town and fair officials, fearing a recently discovered suspected flaw in the water service line for the fairgrounds might cause problems, moved quickly to install a second water main for the fairground.

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Receiving water for the first time from the Durham Water Co., the town-owned public water system, officials moved quickly to get a second water line installed to make sure there would be enough capacity to keep the water flowing for the fair. The additional water main is in place and ready for use, town officials said.

"We are very confident that was the best thing to do," said First Selectman James McLaughlin. "We are obligated to provide the water to the fair."

When the new system was inspected in advance of this year's fair, a supervisor for the association questioned whether the two-inch diameter service line would provide the flow needed, said McLaughlin. John J. Brennan Construction Co. of Hamden, the contractor for the new water system, was directed to lay a three-inch diameter water line along side the first water main, McLaughlin said.

The extra work by Brennan Construction cost $25,000, said McLaughlin. It is undetermined just who will pay for the extra work, he said.

The town's water commission, which oversees the operation of the water company, reported that the inadequate flow through the two-inch pipe resulted from a design error.

"We don't think the town should pay for it," McLaughlin said. "I do not believe the town bears any responsibility for the additional work done."

The new water main has been connected to the pump house tanks and tested, said Sanitarian William Milardo. The system most likely will provide more than enough flow for the association's needs, he added.

"We should be able to deliver more water to the fair than they had before," McLaughlin said.

A flow test on the system was scheduled for Tuesday, Milardo said. Just in case, a backup water tanker will be available as a supplemental source, he added.

Under the agreement between the association and the town, the Durham Water Co. provides the water to the fairgrounds. In exchange, the association gave the water company access to its well field and allowed construction of facilities on the fairgrounds.

This is the first year the association has received water from the water company's system. The water company started operations for its new system for the Durham Center in August
DURHAM - Lauren Scarpa, owner of Country Yarns at 327 N. Colony St. in Wallingford, is no stranger to fibers. As the superintendent of the fiber department of the Durham Fair, Lauren and her mother, Helen Scarpa, work together to set up the fiber exhibit, which entails far more than skeins of yarn and needlepoint.

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With friends among the bags and bundles of fleece, the Scarpa women set up shop.
But there's more to the fiber exhibit than just showing pretty threads and fleeces.
"We have to wash the fleece and then comb it out. Then we 'card' it and it goes to spin," Lauren explained. "Carding," she added, "is when we use a special instrument to make all the fibers go in one direction, sort of like combing your hair."
The first step, however, before anything else can be done, is the judging of the fleeces, and to do that, she incorporates the help of 71-year-old Faith Wight - a 30-year fleece expert who was happy to share her knowledge with The Press.
"Feel this one," she instructed, as she held a small swatch of fleece out. "This is a good quality fleece ... you can still feel the oil in the fibers," she said as she held the material to her nose and smelled. "Has a good scent to it, too," she added as she tugged on each end, explaining how, if the fleece breaks, it's not good quality. But then she pointed a knowing finger to a large bag of fluff in the corner. "That one isn't as good a quality and will have to be disqualified because it's obvious there was something wrong with the sheep it came from."
Wight went on to explain how a fleece judge can tell when there's something wrong with the animal from which the fleece has come.
"You can tell by the texture and smell," she explained, adding that it's usually pretty evident when fleece comes from an animal that has skin problems.
Lauren said the fiber exhibit includes examples of fleece from Alpaca, llamas and wool.
The exhibit will feature everything from mittens to bracelets that will be given to kids - free of charge - by volunteer Susan Rasted, who made the bracelets just for that purpose.
All items exhibited at Scarpa's display are required to be hand-spun and then hand-knitted.
Visitors to the exhibit will get to see the process of spinning fleece into yarn - all day, every day of the fair - and will gain a good understanding on how a bundle of fleece can become a beautiful hand-knit sweater with matching mittens.
The "Mummy Roadshow" has been added to the Discovery Center's schedule and is an exciting addition to the fair's many presentations.
Quinnipiac University professors Ronald Beckett and Jerry Conlogue - executive directors of Quinnipiac's Bioanthropology Research Institute in Hamden - will be sharing their experiences and knowledge of mummies with fair-goers this year.
"It's an interesting subject - science in action. It's also a connection with the old sideshow tents from fairs gone by," said Beckett, a respiratory care professor and chairman of cardiopulmonary sciences and diagnostic imaging at Quinnipiac.
Beckett has used endoscopic techniques to help gather information that can determine a mummy's sex, age and cause of death.
Conlogue, an associate professor of diagnostic imaging, says he is excited to bring the show to the Durham Fair.
"Both (Beckett) and I feel it is important to get kids interested in science. Mummies seem to be a sure-fire way to get their attention."
Tracy and Jason Camassar - superintendents of the Durham Fair Art Department - are largely to thank for the addition of the Mummy Roadshow to this year's fair.
"I've known (the Camassars) for about 10 years," Conlogue said, adding that Tracy Camassar contacted him in late spring to ask if he would be interested in doing a presentation at the fair.
"We jumped at the chance," he said.
Camassar is equally excited about the show.
"We always look for something different that we can present at the fair," she said. And, after seeing the mummy presentation in their son's classroom at Strong School, Camassar decided to invite them to the fair.
"They really appealed to the students ... They are great guys and they make science very fun, understandable and interesting," she said.
The presentation will begin with a Powerpoint presentation of mummies the duo has explored from around the world.
"It's important to let people know mummies can be found everywhere," said Conlogue, adding mummies are also a part of Connecticut history.
"We've examined the Egyptian mummy, PaIb, at the Barnum Museum in Bridgeport and several Egyptian mummies at Yale's Peabody Museum. X-rays of the latter are on exhibit at the Peabody. What our work has been able to accomplish is to get the mummies to 'tell' us, through imaging, their stories before they ended up in Connecticut."
After the slide show presentation, the experts plan to involve the audience with a volunteer to help solve a "mummy mystery." Usually the volunteer is a youth.
"The kids seem to love the presentation and always ask great questions," said Beckett. "We hope to encourage kids to think about science in a different way. We hope they take home the message that science is fun!"
The Mummy Roadshow will be presented on the Discovery Stage in the Discovery Center Sept. 28 at 12:30 p.m. and again on Sept. 29 at 2 p.m.
In addition, Camassar says there will be a booth set up in the Discovery Center tent on both days.
The booth will be open all day from 9 a.m. to 11 p.m. and will include an Egyptian mummy and a video of Beckett and Conlogue's National Geographic series, "The Mummy Roadshow," which they hosted from 2001 to 2004.
Their 2005 book, "Mummy Dearest," published by Lyons Press, detailed the two traveling the world making 40 episodes of the show to highlight their pioneering work using radiography and endoscopy to unlock mysteries of the world's most baffling mummies.