Giving His Share to the Fair

Loudoun Man Helps County Event Change With the Times

By Kameel Stanley

Sunday, July 27, 2008

Every year, Terry Corle arranges his work schedule so he has a week off at the end of July.

He doesn't do it to accommodate a family vacation or because it's a good time to take a break from the Virginia Farm Bureau in Leesburg, where he sells insurance.

He uses the days off to run the Loudoun County Fair.

"I was always one of those kids who wanted to join the circus," said Corle, the fair's volunteer superintendent. "I guess this is the closest I'll come to it."

Corle, 60, moved to Loudoun County in 1975. Until one day six years ago, when somebody asked him to help out, he had never attended the annual event.

But the self-described "city boy" has small-town roots, and the Loudoun fair reminded him of those he used to go to as a boy in Bedford, Pa.

As superintendent, he has been instrumental in some of the changes that have expanded the onetime strictly agricultural fair into an event that includes dozens of vendors and entertainment such as a demolition derby and a rodeo show.

"For a long time, the Loudoun County Fair had been a big secret. We're pretty much a traditional fair," he said. "But it's changing."

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Preparing for the Fair

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Fair Superintendent Terry S. Corle, Sr., stands on the Dragon Wagon, the first of many rides to be assembled for the Loudoun County Fair. Corle has been in charge of organizing the fair for the past six years. (Tracy A. Woodward)

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Rodney Monroe, left, organizer for Monday night's Demolition Derby talks with Terry S. Corle, Sr., fair superintendent inside the Livestock Barn at the Louduon County Fairgrounds. Corle has been in charge of the county fair for the past six years. (Tracy A. Woodward)

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Bleachers arrive by truck and pass by the ticket booth to be assembled at the Loudoun County Fair. The fair beings Sunday and lasts through next Saturday. (Tracy A. Woodward)

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John Dyer of OnPoint Communications, LLC installs a large TV in the Livestock Barn at the Loudoun County Fair Grounds. Five of these screens will be installed in various buildings around the fair to provide fair information and digital advertising. Terry S. Corle, Sr., fair superintendent walks by outside the barn. (Tracy A. Woodward)

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One of the changes at this year's fair, which officially kicks off tomorrow and ends Saturday, is an infusion of technology.

OnPoint Communications, a Round Hill advertising and digital signage company, has installed flat-screen TVs throughout the fairgrounds (at 17558 Dry Mill Rd.), including at the main office, the small barn for animals such as rabbits and chickens and the larger barn where the auction takes place.

During the week, the screens will display old fair footage, a schedule of events, vendors' ads and information about fair sponsors. The Web-based technology also allows for emergency announcements to be broadcast, such as information about an injured or missing child.

The technology has attracted advertisers who might not have gotten a booth.

"We're innovators," Corle said. "We think it's something that probably nobody else has done."

The partnership with the Round Hill company was the brainchild of Corle and OnPoint founder Daniel Howard, who used to work together.

"I give Terry a lot of credit," said Howard. "That's committed. He's always looking for something new to add."

Marketing a traditional county fair can be a challenge in a place such as Loudoun, where the suburban eastern population has swelled in recent years.

This year, organizers promoted the fair to eastern residents. Fliers were distributed door-to-door to homes in Sterling and Ashburn.

Longtime fair volunteer Marty Beamer, who participated as a high school student and runs the agricultural side of things, said he remembered when the fair would attract maybe 1,500 visitors for the week, most of them grandparents.

These days, it takes a couple of hundred volunteers to pull off the event, which attracted 20,000 people last year.

"Loudoun County is changing so much, and as a fair, we've got to change with the times," Beamer said.

Someday, Corle said, he wants to attract big-name entertainers.

This year's fair will have carnival rides, a demolition derby tomorrow, professional wrestling Tuesday, a performance Wednesday by country music singer Scott Hisey and a rodeo show Thursday and Saturday. A circus thrill show will run throughout the week.

Nearly 40 commercial vendors, selling everything from crafts to deep-fried cheesecake, will be on hand.

Some traditional events, such as the greased-pig scramble, have been discontinued. Organizers said that they had to drop it because of staffing issues but that they might bring it back.

But the focus is still largely on agriculture. The goal, Beamer said, is to keep that part of the county's history alive.

Beamer, who was born and grew up in Purcellville, said the 4-H portion of the fair instills responsibility in young people who spend months raising their animals. It is also an educational opportunity for people who might not otherwise get a glimpse of farm life.

"We're probably still the only fair in the state of Virginia where the kids still run the fair," he said. "Ultimately, this whole thing is about the kids."

Tagged: entertainment, Leesburg, loudoun county fair

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