DAMASCUS

COMMUNITY

FAIR

This past weekend, I attended the Damascus Community Fair on Saturday and Sunday. On Saturday, I started by visiting the Montgomery County Police 5th District police station Open House in Germantown.

When I first arrived at the station, the roads were blocked off, and there were no indications of where to park. The parking lot by the Transit Center doesn't look like a good place to leave a car you want to find in one piece when you return. So I parked at Hoyt's - sorry, the Regal Theater.

The first thing that happened was that the Park Police helicopter took off right in front of me. After the smoke cleared, I went across the street where there were several motorcycle officers and their motorcycles. Next to those was one of the new Dodge Charger police cruisers, and a mounted police officer on his horse. I've got pictures of those, which you will see at www.robertdyer.net as they are uploaded.



The motorcycles are Harley Davidsons. One great video I took was of an officer demonstrating fighting techniques with the nightstick/baton. Available soon on the Robert Dyer Channel at www.robertdyer.net.



Then I went up the driveway between the police station and the Germantown Volunteer Fire Department, and the rest of the Open House was dominated by the VFD. I took pictures of the various fire equipment, and of a Montgomery County Police S.W.A.T. armored vehicle. There was a DJ from some radio station broadcasting in the center, and the smell of hot dogs grilling in the air. Free hot dogs.



Speaking of dogs, among the honored guests were several specially-trained FEMA dogs.



Finally, the Germantown VFD put on an impressive display of their firefighting equipment. Arranging 2 fire trucks on the street, they attached hoses from a hydrant by Hoyt's... sorry, Regal.. to a pumper truck, and then to a ladder truck with a water cannon on top.



One firefighter turned on the hydrant, and you could see the water move through the previously-flat hose. The now-round hose fed the high-pressure water into the pumper truck. Another firefighter activated the outgoing hose, and it expanded quickly as the water approached the ladder truck. The water went up into the water cannon and spewed out in a torrential blast, soaking some unlucky bystanders in the VFD driveway.



The best part is, you will be able to watch this demonstration on the Robert Dyer Channel, as if you were right there with me! Stay tuned for that; I'll let you know as soon as that clip is uploaded.



Then it was time to hit the road to Damascus for the main event: the 2009 Damascus Community Fair. Apparently, the water cannon demonstration must have penetrated the clouds, as rain began to fall in Damascus as I entered the downtown area. There was no rain in the forecast! Fortunately, I had umbrellas behind the seat.



The first thing you notice as you round the bend on Lewis Drive is the impressive monument/memorial in front of the American Legion, Post 171. Next door is the Damascus Volunteer Fire Department Activities Building, and the community fairgrounds.



The second thing you notice is a big, purple monster truck named Blackjack. It announces itself with a roar and a cloud of gravel dust as it returns riders to the airplane-style boarding staircase.



The third thing that gets your attention is the massive John Deere Turbo Combine parked prominently across from the VFD Activities Building. Next to that was a booth for the Damascus Emergency Preparedness Team, one of the few county organizations that is actively developing plans for disasters, disease outbreaks, or terrorist attacks.



Across from their booth were two state agriculture booths. One was actually a trailer with interactive agricultural displays. Both had brochures, and got milk? pencils.



Behind the combine was the local merchants/organizations tent. This had displays for the Damascus Library, Damascus Heritage Society, Damascus Community Bank, and others. Also businesses such as Robys Photoshop (I think that's in the same shopping center as the Weis Markets). There was a caricature artist drawing any victim who sat in the chair. I saw a familiar John Deere logo on a piece of cloth, which turned out to be a John Deere pillowcase (more on John Deere later). This and other sewn items and jewelry were being sold by Sharon and Esther Rea, who are putting the proceeds towards a December-January mission trip to Bolivia. They are trying to raise $4000. The Pleasant Plains of Damascus DAR organization had a table, as well.

If you come out of that tent, you can go forward towards a ring set up for livestock competitions. On Saturday, there were swine being shown; on Sunday, goats, including one who was very talkative.

Next to that was another tent where a band was playing Saturday, and where the always-active Damascus Lions Club was giving away all the free popcorn you could eat.

Meanwhile, Blackjack was tearing up a meadow across the street. On Saturday, the area between the gravel parking lot and the grassy field was clear. This set up a great scene of Blackjack rampaging around the field backed by forest, with my favorite Damascus landmark - the water tower - visible above the trees in the distance. But I was unable to get that "money shot" of the monster truck below the water tower. Even though I could see it, the tower appeared invisible against the fog and clouds through the viewfinder. When I tried to take the shot on Sunday, the monster truck was hidden behind trailers and trucks parked over there for the lawn tractor pull contest. Oh well.

It was also hard to get many photos in general, due to the rain. I took some of the exhibits inside the Activities building. Have you ever seen an Xbox 360 controller cake? You will now, when I upload my picture of it.

I saw that the Weis Markets store gave a special award to a yeast bread entry. I took a picture of a giant pumpkin and a giant sunflower. Both won awards. The 4-H club not only showed its imagination through the many exhibits - ranging from food to artwork to hand-sewn clothing - but also how much work went into the projects.

There was a very impressive exhibit on the history of Damascus, with lots of photos and other preserved items.

The rain kept falling outside. But as you can see from the photo, Sunday was a beautiful day.

Stay tuned for Part 2