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Fair at New Boston is a look at 18th century life

Re-enactors stage the Battle of Peckuwe during the 2009 Fair at New Boston.

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By Andrew McGinn, Staff Writer Updated 9:29 AM Friday, August 27, 2010

SPRINGFIELD — “Please refrain from cellular or computer usage on the field.”

That’s a note on the George Rogers Clark Heritage Association website to all participants of the upcoming Fair at New Boston.

Seems only right.

After all, the illusion of life in the late 1700s gets shattered if the guy dressed up as Daniel Boone whips out his iPhone to update his Facebook status — “Eatin’ a turkey leg! Yum!”

On Sept. 4 and 5, the fair’s costumed participants will once again bring the area back to life as it was between 1790 and 1810, blissfully unaware of such modern advances as Twitter or even the addition of 35 more states to the Union.

That’s a 15-star flag you’ll see flapping over George Rogers Clark Park.

Now in its 28th year, the Fair provides a snapshot — make that a sketch; the first photograph wasn’t taken until 1814 — of 18th century frontier life, from artisans and merchants to musicians and thespians to Woodland Indians and militiamen.

In addition to frontier heroes like Boone and Gen. Clark, a new historical character, poet Phillis Wheatley, will grace this year’s fair.

Wheatley was an internationally famous poet of the Revolutionary era who was championed by the likes of George Washington and the French writer Voltaire.

Not bad for someone who had been abducted from West Africa around the age of 7 and forced into slavery.

With the 1773 publication of “Poems on Various Subjects, Religious and Moral,” Wheatley became the first African-American poet — and only the third woman in U.S. history — to publish her work.

Wheatley will tell her story at 1 p.m. each day in the Fairmaster’s Tent.

Contact this reporter at (937) 328-0352 or amcginn@coxohio.com.

How to go

What: The Fair at  New Boston
When: 10 a.m. to  6 p.m., rain or shine, Sept. 4-5
Where: George  Rogers Clark Park
Admission: Discount advance tickets available until Aug. 31 at all Security National Bank locations, the Enon and Upper Valley branches of WesBanco, and the Ole Book Nook in Urbana. At the gate, tickets are $8; $5 for active military; $3 for children ages 6-12.

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