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Jun 25, 2023

A View From the Centre County Grange Fair, the Last Camping Fair in the US

From left, Sarah Bitner, Wanda Nyman and Christie Bitner pose in their tent at the Centre County Grange Fair on Aug. 21, 2023. CENTRE HALL, Pa. — Christie and Sarah Bitner have a rare vantage point

From left, Sarah Bitner, Wanda Nyman and Christie Bitner pose in their tent at the Centre County Grange Fair on Aug. 21, 2023.

CENTRE HALL, Pa. — Christie and Sarah Bitner have a rare vantage point for striking up conversation with Grange fairgoers.

The retired couple have one of 1,000 tents that occupy the grounds of the Centre County Grange Fair, the only remaining tenting fair in the nation, according to the fair's website.

In addition to the tents, 1,500 RVs fill the grounds for fair week, this year running Aug. 18-26.

The Bitners have camped at this site since 1969, but their enjoyment of the fair goes back much further.

Sarah, 91 and a Centre County native, has been coming to the fair since she was a child.

She and her husband, Christie, would bring their two daughters, Wanda Nyman and Karen Walk, to the fair every year. Thanks to their daughters’ persistence, the Bitners called fair organizers to get a tent in 1969 — a feat that wouldn’t be possible today.

“Right now you couldn’t get a tent if you wanted to,” Christie said.

The Bitners' flag flies outside their tent at the Centre County Grange Fair on Aug. 21, 2023.

Tents can be passed down to a relative, and while not everyone has been tenting for as long as the Bitners — some have been there even longer — all the tents have been in the same families for quite some time.

And every year is a reunion of sorts.

“Everybody looks forward to seeing each other,” Christie said. “It’s just like a family.”

In addition to the extended fair family, the Bitners enjoy time with their own family each year.

What started with Christie, Sarah and their two daughters has grown to include grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

Christie, 90, enjoys having the whole family around throughout the week and watching everyone participate in fair traditions. For the Bitners, this includes playing dominoes and watching the parade, which happens to go directly past the family’s tent.

“Everybody runs to our tent for parade day,” Christie said.

While the parade has been going on for as long as the Bitners can remember, it’s grown significantly in the past 50 years. The 30-minute meander now lasts well over an hour.

The whole fair has grown since Christie and Sarah started camping. Long ago, one amusement company set up at the fair. Now there are two. And vendors have doubled or tripled over the past half-century, Christie said.

There were a fair amount of tents when the Bitners reserved their spot, but more were added over the years, and RVs were not allowed on the grounds back in the summer of ’69.

The grounds were also smaller when the Bitners started their camping tradition.

Today, there are RVs across from their tent, but there used to be a chain-link fence with a field behind it, not owned by the fairgrounds.

Not far from the Bitners’ tent was a place where fairgoers could climb over the fence, pay about $5 and go for a ride in an airplane.

Christie and Sarah never partook in the rides, but they enjoyed watching people who did from the comfort of their camp.

The tents are all 12-by-12 feet and were rather basic when first assigned. The Bitners’ original tent had wooden floors and included a wood table and two benches.

Families do a lot to make their tents feel more homey, some with very elaborate setups and others keeping it simple.

The Bitners once had a more elaborate setup, but have scaled back over the years.

When their daughters were teens, the family would bring a full-sized refrigerator and a gas stove. They also brought heaters for the nighttime temperatures.

Today, the only true “essentials” that the Bitners bring are a table, some chairs, a cot and a fan.

The many trees in the grove keep temperatures cool during the August heat and humidity. And if Christie and Sarah are ever in need of other amenities, Wanda has a camper at the fair, about 100 yards away from her parents’ tent.

The Bitners are always sure to have playing cards, games and toys for the kids on hand. But for Christie and Sarah, two comfortable chairs are the most important fair necessity. Both enjoy people-watching and talking to fellow fairgoers, both old friends and strangers.

Sarah and Christie Bitner sit on a bench outside of their tent at the Centre County Grange Fair on Aug. 21, 2023.

For many in Centre County, the Grange Fair is in their blood. But for visitors coming from farther away, tent camping at the county fair is an oddity.

Christie said many people have stopped to ask him about camping over the years, with some even asking to take a peek around inside the tent.

While meeting curious strangers is fun, Christie especially enjoys seeing former students.

After working for Piper aircraft for 30 years, Christie, originally from Clinton County, worked as a custodian in the Bald Eagle Area School District for 25 years.

Every year at the fair, former students stop by the Bitners’ tent to say hello and share a memory with Christie from their school days.

Sarah worked at Woolrich for 35 years, retiring in 1994.

The Bitners live full time in Howard, about 30 minutes from the fairgrounds.

The Grange Fair is vacation week for many Centre County residents. And while the week is always highly anticipated, campers are also happy to head home at the end.

There’s a popular saying among longtime Grange fairgoers: “People can’t wait to get in, and they can’t wait to get out.”

The Bitners certainly aren’t looking to get out anytime soon, already anticipating next year’s fair, which will be the 150th anniversary.

For any Grange Fair attendees lining up to watch the parade or getting a little heat relief in the shade, give a wave to Christie and Sarah. They would love to see you.

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Stephanie Speicher is the social media editor at Lancaster Farming. She can be reached at [email protected] or 717-721-4457. Follow her on Twitter @Steph_Speicher.