Tag Archives: Illinois State Fair

That’s no ordinary limousine

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While covering the Illinois State Fair this year, I was offered a chance to ride in the starting gate car prior to one of the races.

The car — a mobile start gate — basically is a modified white limousine with two front ends that has an automated starting gate on it. The men inside the car activate the gates at the appropriate time, and they swing out on either side of the car. The racers then line up in their designated spots behind the gate, and the limo takes off with the horses following. The limo speeds up and gets out of the way of the horses just as they cross the start line.

But that’s not the end of it. The car continues on around the track along with the harness racers. Inside the car are two patrol judges who monitor the racing to make sure no infractions take place. A driver at the other end of the car drives it around the track.

I used the Flip video cam to film the one-mile race from inside the car.

In All Fairness, Year 2

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This year I again landed the gig of Illinois State Fair blogger for the newspaper, which is fine with me because I really don’t mind the fair. Plus, it’s nice to work away from the office for a stretch.

Just as I did last year, I donned jeans, sneakers and sunglasses, grabbed a laptop computer and backpack, stocked up on extra batteries and headed out with a point-and-shoot camera, Flip video camera, the computer equipment and miscellaneous fair schedules and news releases.

I blogged six of the 10 days of the fair, plus preview day, logging nearly 70 blog posts that documented everything from vendors and attendance to the weather and fair food. I rode out two mid-afternoon summer storms, including one that prompted officials to set off the fairgrounds’ tornado sirens and sent people running for cover in the tunnel beneath the Grandstand.

I saw concessionaires fry up Pepsi and sundaes, rode the Sky Ride for the first time even though I’m terrified of heights and learned a little bit about harness racing.

The 2009 Illinois State Fair is in the books now, and I expect 2010 will be just as memorable.

How to blog a state fair

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I’ll admit it: I’m a state fair junkie. I love the state fair.

It’s a good thing, because that’s where I spent about two weeks straight in August 2008. I was the “fair reporter.” Each morning I donned a backpack with a laptop computer, a point-and-shoot camera, sunglasses and a good pair of sneakers and drove to the city’s north end to cover the fair. I stayed on the grounds until 5 or 6 p.m. each night, filing updates to the blog and rewriting blog entries for use in the newspaper.

Among the sights I saw at the fair: former Gov. Rod Blagojevich and his family prior to his indictment; a senior spelling bee I thought would never end; several carnival rides you will never, ever, catch me on; an auctioneer contest; and a record-setting crowd.

The name of our blog was “In All Fairness.” You can check it out here. (By the way, other reporters contributed to the blog on weekends and at night.)