Some day there's big national news, important city news, and really annoying local news that doesn't have much import at all but grates nonetheless.
The big national news is the announcement that Porter Goss has unexpectedly resigned as head of the CIA. There's something smelly here, but we don't know what it is yet -- should know by tomorrow. I'll wait to comment.
Mayor Brown has proposed a fairly sensible city budget. Local special-interests will no doubt argue over his distribution of the bounty but there's not much he can do in a city that's controlled by an oversight board and depends on state hand-outs to survive. If there were better circumstances under which to elect a Democrat, I can't think of them.
No, what's really annoyed me is that the Erie County Fair is no longer -- it's now "America's Fair -- The Hamburg Fair."
There has not been an official name change, but the fair is marketing itself as America's Fair, Lou Ann Delaney, marketing director, said Wednesday.
The fair started distancing itself from the county and calling itself America's Fair last year and is intensifying the effort as it prepares for the 167th edition Aug. 9 to 20.
Part of the reason for the change was the county's budget fiasco last year.
"People were calling and asking if there was going to be a fair," Delaney said.
The fair gets no county funding and is not connected to county government, she said.
"Another reason [for the new label] is that it helps attract a higher level of entertainment," she said. "County fair sounds small, and we're actually larger [in terms of attendance] than most state fairs."
The Web site is www.americas-fair.org.
And for people still referring to Rich Stadium and Pilot Field, fair officials realize it will take time for the new title to be accepted, she said.
Oh, and the place they have it is now "the Fairgrounds in Hamburg, N.Y."
Betty Newell, president and CEO of the Hamburg Chamber of Commerce, said she thinks the change is for the better.
The fair "is as American as apple pie. I think it's a good direction to take," she said.
Grrrr. It isn't "Hamburg's fair" and it sure ain't "America's" fair. It's the Erie County Fair and it's Erie County residents who support it -- year after year afer year. Hurt feelings over funding don't change that fact.
I can only imagine the myriad meetings that no doubt resulted in this "brilliant" name change. And in the end, I can only be thankful that they didn't follow the lead of a local supermarket chain's inexplicable marketing decision and call it "Martin's Fair:; though it would have made just about as much sense.
It's the Erie County Fair, dammit. And if it's so damned dependent on government funding then it's already lost its reason to exist. It was never intended to be publicly-financed entertainment, just a chance for Erie County residents to get together and celebrate the harvest. I say we should skip the silly boycott of Exxon-Mobil and boycott "America's Fair" instead.
Let America support it.
