A few of the inflatable rides at the new Claridge Fair in Penn Township were still a little wet from the rain early Saturday, but it didn’t slow down 6-year-old Nina Garafalo as she swiftly descended a slide erected on the fields at the Penn-Trafford Soccer Club complex.
“It’s still a lot of fun,” Garafalo said.
In addition to rides, numerous games for children and adults, dozens of gift baskets were being auctions and there was live music, food, specialty drinks and beer available for adults.
Stage acts, food, rides and games open at noon Sunday and the four-day fair concludes with a fireworks show at 9 p.m.
Brandy Supernovich, the mother of Nolan, 10, and Landon, 6, accompanied her two boys to check out the fair offerings and support the soccer club. Nolan and Landon had settled at a stuffed pig race where they each chose a contestant. The winner received a stuffed animal.
“It’s nice. And it’s nice that it benefits all the children participating in the soccer program,” Supernovich said.
Penn-Trafford Soccer Club director John Daykon said this is the first year the soccer club is hosting the fair in partnership with the nearby Schoolhouse Tavern at 100 Main St. The tavern owners arranged for the musical acts, beverage and food and fireworks.
“The (Claridge) Fire Department used to hold a fair to benefit the department a few years ago, but they no longer did one so we decided to give it a try,” Daykon said.
“We thought it was a possible way for us to raise money, give back to the community,” he said. “And it was a good opportunity this year with a return normalcy after the covid pandemic.”
Benefits more than 500 kids
More than 500 area children ages 4-18 participate in the soccer club’s fall and spring soccer programs.
The last major fundraising project was for lighting of the three full-size and one smaller field on the 13-acre site at 100 Kuch Lane.
Next, the club hopes to install an artificial turf to replace the grass turf; money raised from the fair proceeds will go in the organization’s “turf” fund.
Daykon and assistant director Justin Martin said the club did not set a fundraising goal since it’s the first year hosting the fair.
“We’re somewhat unique in that we own our own field,” Martin said. “We’ve been around since 1981.”
Daykon said the community response “had been pretty good so far, but really expecting much larger crowds (later Saturday) and again Sunday nights,” he said.
Nearby, where multiple inflatable rides were erected on a field, directors had the support of Trey Litz and Rocco Waryas-Writt, both 11, who live nearby in Export.
Litz said he enjoyed competing against Waryas-Writt running through an inflatable obstacle course.
“I like running through the obstacles and competing. It’s pretty good,” he said.
More information is available at the Claridge Fair’s Facebook page.
Paul Peirce is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Paul at 724-850-2860, ppeirce@triblive.com or via Twitter .