A fair where even the backhoes boogie

Spectators who went to the Middletown Grange Fair in Wrightstown, Bucks County, last week got a healthy dose of a classic American summer festival - apple pie contests, livestock shows, carnival rides, and funnel cake.

But some of the most popular attractions were newcomers, including the "Dancing Diggers," a group of heavy-machinery operators who choreographed a dance to rock music. Observers called it "backhoe ballet."

For Doug Taylor, who led the crew, it was an opportunity to demonstrate the power and dexterity of the machines he sells at the family store, Earthborne Equipment in Warrington.

In another example of the modern melding with the traditional, mothers were pleased to find a tent dedicated to breast-feeding and diaper-changing.

"It's great that they have something like this to help new moms come to a place like this and enjoy it a little more," said Tricia Lentz, cradling a 4-month-old in a baby sling.

For 7-year-old Kayla Hilty, it was all about the rides.

"We went on the Gravitron," she said. "You spin and the walls go down, and it, like, magnets you to the wall."

Other popular attractions included pig races, a horse show, and, as always, the livestock and agriculture competitions.

Sunday marked the end of the five-day festival, which drew an estimated 65,000 people, according to codirector Amber McKenney-Kutzler. For many people in Bucks County and beyond, she said, the grange is "part of our blood."

"I took some of my first steps at the grange fair," said McKenney-Kutzler, 28, a high school teacher from Wrightstown. Her grandmother helps coordinate the vendors, her mother runs the first-aid tent, and in a few years, her 6-year-old daughter will join in, as well. "It's a labor of love."

Jolene Vezzetti, who helps run the sheep barn with the 4-H club, said her family looked forward to the grange fair every year. "Are you kidding? It's like Christmas!"

Vezzetti's daughter Hannah, 18, has aged out of the 4-H competitions, but in previous years, racked up a few championship ribbons.

In the agriculture and craftwork tents, ribbons were awarded for everything from preschoolers' bead necklaces to intricate handmade quilts.

Barbara Kroupa, 64, of Willow Grove, was ecstatic to see two of her houseplants take second place. Kroupa, a member of the Indoor Plant Society of the Delaware Valley, had bought one of the plants, a pink-petaled wax begonia, at Home Depot.

"Just wait till I go to my September meeting!" she boasted.