For Immediate Release:
July 16, 2010
County Fair opens Wednesday, July 21
Monmouth County Booth offers information on services
FREEHOLD – Monmouth County government will provide information about county services during the annual county fair next week at the East Freehold Showgrounds on Kozloski Road.
To help advance the theme “Monmouth County, The Place You Want to Be,” the county will staff a booth in the main vendor tent area and other areas throughout the fair.
“Monmouth County is proud of the variety of services it provides to the community,” Freeholder Director Lillian G. Burry said. “The county fair is a great way for residents to look at what we do, how we do it, and meet some of the county staff. I urge all residents to go to the County Fair and to stop by the county booth to pick up the latest information on the services available to them.”
At the booth will be resources from the most county departments including: Library System, Health, Human Services, Consumer Affairs, Brookdale Community College, Care Centers, Economic and Workforce Development, Fire Academy, and Public Information.
Elsewhere on the fairgrounds will be other county departments including:
- Public Works & Engineering staff will set up some heavy-duty road equipment and show how they help keep traffic moving and safe on county roads and bridges.
- Mosquito Commission will show residents how to help keep their yards mosquito free.
- Sheriff’s Officers who will be enrolling children in the “Youth Identification Program,” which involves preparing wallet-sized cards with a photo ID of the child. The child’s parents or guardian maintains complete control of the card, but it can be given to local first responders in an emergency to aid in the rapid location and safe return of the child.
- Park System staff has prepared an interactive exhibit celebrating the agency’s ongoing 50th anniversary celebration.
“Even if residents do not make it to the county booth at the fair, they can always access many of the same resources on the county’s Web site,” said Burry. “The Web site provides 24-hour access to county information and services.”
From the hills of Atlantic Highlands to the Manasquan River at the southern tip, and from westernmost reaches of Allentown to the shoreline in Asbury Park, Monmouth County offers its residents a diversity of lifestyles, quality health and education systems, thousands of acres of open space and permanently preserved farmland and the largest lending library system in the state.
The Monmouth County Fair is a family fun event that brings the community together to compete as amateur crafters, gardeners and bakers and to enjoy some great stage entertainment such as The Flying Mueller Brothers, Tim McLoone and the Shirleys, the Mark Chernoff Trio, the BStreetBand, Jody Joseph and the Chorus of the Atlantic. There’s also an array of rides, games of chance and food.
Presented by the county Park System in cooperation with the county 4-H Association, the Fair maintains the agricultural nature of a traditional county fair with its Home and Garden Competition, petting farm and 4-H animal shows and exhibits.
“The fair is an opportunity for the Park System and the 4-H Association to showcase themselves,” said Burry. “Residents get to see chickens, rabbits, pigs, goats, sheep, cows and horses up close. Most of the animals are cared for by the youth of the 4-H Association who take responsibility for the animals year round. These youngsters represent the future and viability of our agricultural community – we should all support their efforts.”
The county’s agricultural heritage also comes alive in the county’s Historic Services tent. Each fair day, staff and volunteers from Historic Longstreet Farm and Historic Walnford hold demonstrations showing daily activities of turn-of-the-century farm life in Monmouth County.
The Fair runs Wednesday through Sunday, July 21 to 25. The Fair gate is open 5 to 11 p.m. on Wednesday, July 21, Thursday, July 22, and Friday, July 23; 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. on Saturday, July 24, and 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Sunday, July 25. The Fair is held at East Freehold Park Showgrounds on Kozloski Road, between Routes 33 and 537 in Freehold Township. Admission is $7 per person. Children 12 and under are free at all times. For more information on the Monmouth County fair, visit www.visitmonmouth.com or call (732) 842-4000.
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