Tag: DutchessCountyFair

Throwback Thursday

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This week takes us back to August 1999. My Grandpa was visiting us. We picked him up in New York and brought him back to Boston with us. Yes, Grandpa was a frustrating houseguest. Yes, Grandpa was headstrong and complained a bit (okay, complained a lot). Yes, Grandpa did some questionable things. Yes, this was still a great visit. Grandpa had a great time visiting Boston and we got to celebrate his 79th birthday with him. He wanted Olive Garden for his birthday, but there wasn’t one nearby. We took him to the Cheesecake Factory, where he complained constantly that it wasn’t the Olive Garden. Later, when Aunt Wendy called to wish him a happy birthday, he told her about the wonderful dinner we treated him to. The highlight of this visit for me was that Grandpa took us to the Dutchess County Fair in New York. He took me to this fair every year until I was in my 20’s. It was a tradition that I cherished and I love that Paxton’s first fair was to that one with his Great Grandpa. These photos are being shared this week because it is fair week and tomorrow is Grandpa’s birthday.

Throwback Thursday

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This week’s Throwback Thursday takes us back to August 1999. My grandpa had visited us in Boston and then we brought him back to New York. It was the week of the Dutchess County Fair and Grandpa wanted to take us to it and give Paxton his first fair experience. I loved this idea because I had gone to this fair with Grandpa every year of my life until age 22 and I wanted to see him share it with his great grandson. I only took 3 pictures that day (I was using a film camera), but this is the one that sticks in my mind. I love it. Grandpa had Paxton at his favorite game on the midway. When I was a kid, we spent a lot of time at this game. Grandpa always brought a roll of quarters just for this game and he would let me choose what color to put the quarter on (I always chose purple or one of those multi color patterns). I don’t recall him ever actually winning this game, but he still played it year after year. Over the years, I sometimes went to this fair with my cousins, my brother, and various friends, but always with Grandpa. I chose this photo for this week because, like it always has been, both the Dutchess County Fair and Grandpa’s birthday were this week. Although I miss Grandpa always, this week in August always has me missing him even more.