It was a Sunday afternoon at the Maui Fair when the father pulled the last bill from his wallet and asked his two kids what they would like for the day’s final splurge.

“Candied apples” came the reply. Sundays at the fair offered discount rides and smaller crowds. If the Joy Zone lost some its pizzazz in the light of day, the kids didn’t seem to notice. Their sticky apples were purchased and they hadn’t gone three steps before the younger boy stumbled and fell. After four days of heavy foot traffic, the ground at War Memorial Complex was a mix of torn-up grass and sandy dust. Just as the apple covered in red glue was about to hit the dirt, the boy spun his body to land on his back.

As he lay with the candied apple raised safely in the air, an older stranger in cowboy boots strode up with a wide grin on his face.

“You saved ’em, boy!” the man congratulated in a thick Upcountry accent. “You saved ’em!”

This week’s news that the Maui Fair will be postponed for the fourth-straight year has us casting back to some of our favorite memories of the iconic event.

There is no forgetting the time we talked our way on to the roof of the old Kahului Safeway store to document the second-to-last fair held at Kahului Fairgrounds. The kindly store manager with big hair was not as caught up in liability concerns as one might expect today.

“Sure,” she said. “Just be careful.”

A drone would now be used to take aerial photos, but back in the 1980s you either had to rent a helicopter or find a vantage spot. Far in the background of the sunset photos taken that evening, Puunene Mill puffs smoke and steam.

We loved cruising all the food booths, but almost always ended up with a shoyu chicken plate from the booth run by veterans of the 442nd Regimental Combat Team, and later, their sons and daughters. It is impossible to think about the fair and not hear its loud music, ringing bells, calling hucksters, pneumatic whooshes and din of thousands of voices. Above it all were the nonstop screams of girls and boys being flung through the air on the rides.

With its many exhibits, War Memorial Gym was a favored spot to escape the chaos. There you could marvel at 500-pound pumpkins and jaw-dropping orchids. Whether they won blue ribbons or not, the fruits, produce, flowers, crafts, photos and student art on display provided touchstones to this island community. Who entered that guava? Who stitched that quilt?

If not for the pandemic, the Maui Fair would likely be readying for its 101st edition. Instead, we are paused once again, waiting for the 98th and wondering if memories may be all we have left.