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The 94th Maui Fair opens Thursday, but this year actually marks the 100th anniversary of our beloved community event. The very first Maui County Fair was held in Wailuku, where Wells Park now stands, over Thanksgiving weekend of 1916. After a two-year hiatus, the second Maui County Fair opened its gates at the Kahului Fairgrounds in 1919. Another break during World War II explains the six-year discrepancy.
Although it has been staged at the War Memorial sports complex since 1989, we old-timers will always think of the acreage at Puunene and Wakea Avenues as the true home of the fair. The grandstand and racetrack also housed other activities throughout the year, including MIL football, intermediate school track meets, and concerts like the high school Battle of the Bands. For a time in the 1970s and ’80s, the stately Territorial Building near the entrance gates was home to Maui Community Theatre and its stage productions.
At the back end of the property stood the stables, where the 4-H livestock contests and exhibits were held. Other permanent structures included the Commercial and Photography buildings and, my favorite, cool and lush Orchidland. Even the food booths were freestanding wooden huts, lining the broad, dusty walkways.
Through the years, the Maui County Fair and Racing Association presented various activities in conjunction with the fair. Biddy boxing, demolition derbys, poi dog contests, treasure hunts, fireworks displays and, of course, horse racing, were held at the old grandstand. Circus acts were occasionally brought in; according to The Maui News archives, Daisy the elephant was the main attraction of the first County Fair. Fifty years later, I remember watching in awe as Frances the diving mule leapt into a huge tank of water from a platform that seemed a hundred feet high, at least, to a child. That impressed me even more than the motorcycle daredevil who defied gravity in the Ring of Death.
The man known as Mr. County Fair, George Ito, spearheaded those events and activities for decades, starting in 1966. At the urging of landowner Alexander & Baldwin, Ito and his wife, Mabel, lived at the old fairgrounds for 18 years as caretakers of the property. When the decision was made to close the fairgrounds, it was Ito who saved the fair and facilitated its relocation to the War Memorial Complex. Born in the same year as the first fair, Ito passed away in 2007, two years after the 83rd County Fair was dedicated to him.
For me, the most memorable fair was the 45th, when I was 10 years old and won the jingle contest with this little couplet:
Fair time is fun time for every girl and boy;
Fair time is happy time in Maui no ka oi!
My words were set to music and sung by Buddy Fo and his group, and played on KMVI Radio in every fair commercial that year. I won a four-day pass and a $50 check, which my parents used to purchase fair tickets for my entire 6th-grade class. I’m guessing admission was around 75 cents back then, because I do remember there was enough money left over for a weekend full of 30- and 40-cent rides.
We’d go on the Caterpillar and the Tilt-a-Whirl first, before lunch. We had learned from experience that Pronto Pups and Flying Saucers are best eaten after the stomach-churning thrill rides. Candy apples and cotton candy could be eaten on the Ferris wheel, but you had to be careful not to let the breeze blow your hair into the sticky treats.
The classic sticky red candy apples were replaced years ago by caramel apples sold at the E.K. Fernandez wagons, and I noticed the absence of Flying Saucers in this year’s fair tabloid. But some things haven’t changed, even after 100 years. The Fair Parade, with marching bands and colorful floats, will kick off the festivities at 4:30 Thursday afternoon. And even with inflation, the fair is still a great family entertainment value.
I’ll be working a volunteer shift at the Mana’o Radio BBQ pork booth Thursday evening. Stop by to say hello and share your own memories of Maui’s Home Grown Fair. If you can remember my jingle and sing it for me, I’ll treat you to a pulled pork sandwich.
* Kathy Collins is a storyteller, actress and freelance writer whose “Sharing Mana’o” column appears every Wednesday. Her email address is kathycollins@hawaii.rr.com.