MORGANTOWN — Veteran educator David Cottrell is used to tossing out questions to inspire dialogue and lines of thought.
This one, for example: “What’s cooler,” the principal of Clay-Battelle High School mused recently, “than a greased pig?”
Answer: Nothing is cooler than a greased pig.
Especially the slippery porcine that will be part of the proceedings of 2021 Battelle District Fair, which is also Monongalia County’s oldest fair.
The fair, which opens Tuesday in Wadestown and runs through Saturday, has been part of the proceedings here since in 1923.
This the 93rd year for the Ferris wheel-funnel cake happening, and in case you’re wondering about the math – what with the span of 1923 to 2021 being 98 years and all – remember that COVID-19 shut it all down last year.
Before that, it took World War II to do the same.
The fair went dark from 1941-44 at the height of the fighting.
There was a close call in 2017, too, when torrential rains swamped the Midway for a time, said Cottrell, who is also vice president of the fair association.
“Yeah, that was our ‘Good-Lord-willing-and-the-creek-don’t-rise’ fair,” he said. “But we pulled it off. We were still able to have it.”
The 2021 edition is the “wingin’ it” fair, he said.
“Wingin’ It,” also happens to be the official theme of the fair this year, Cottrell said. It was inspired by the pandemic.
“You look back on the past year, and that’s all we were doing,” he said.
“That’s the only thing you could do. Everybody was winging it. When it came time to pick a theme, we just laughed and said, ‘Why not?’ ”
Winging it or not, a fair has to have a grand parade, and the one for the Battelle Fair steps off at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday down a stretch of W.Va. 7, the Mason Dixon Highway.
After that, it’s a solid week of fun and pageantry, with the crowing of the fair queen and musical performances by Hillbilly Gypsies, Cody Clayton Eagle and others – including a southern gospel set by Shelden Tennant, the legendary Marion County police reservist and piano player.
Don’t forget the aforementioned greased pig contest Thursday night.
Visit the Battelle District Fair page on Facebook for the full line-up of events and other particulars.
In an accelerated age, and an uncertain age, Cottrell likes the predictability and measured pace of the fair.
He’s western Mon native who grew up going to the Battelle fair.
The high school principal still remembers the one fair when his mom and dad decreed that he was finally old enough to explore the Midway with his friends – and not them.
“The fair is still a big deal,” he said. “I think we’re going to have a pretty good turnout.”
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