My Year 2009 Dundalk Heritage Fair Photos

Photography by David Robert Crews

Welcome to my year 2009 Dundalk Heritage Fair photography blog postings.

The photography assignment -- which I had given to myself -- was to completely and clearly reveal that: the Dundalk Heritage Fair is held in comfortable, convenient, big-strong-beautiful-shade-tree endowed, and grass carpeted Dundalk Heritage Park; the Fair is well attended by some mighty fine, completely relaxed, friendly and fun loving folks; everything about the fair is usually a good experience; and dedicated, hard working, selfless volunteers from the community of Dundalk, Maryland make the Heritage Fair the outstanding success that it has been every year for the past 34 years.

This set of photographs is also all about natural photographic talent. Because, due to an unfortunate set of long standing circumstances, I could not photograph the 2009 Dundalk Heritage Fair with professional camera gear but had to photograph it all with an old Cannon Sure Shot "point and shoot" film camera that I borrowed. Manually operated pro gear allots me tons of creative control, which the all automatic Sure Shot does not.

And there no longer is an old fashioned photo lab at Dundalk Community College for me to do custom enlarging in. If you would care to view a substantial selection of my previous work done in that photo lab, along with much of my entire photography portfolio, check it all out at this link.

Also, I did the job at my own, personal expense, and I can't afford to have the negatives scanned as raw files, then fully enhanced, before they were turned into JPEGs -- with the limitations in sharpness and other photographic qualities that JPEGs are known for. But JPEGs load up onto a web page much faster.

Those losses of creative control really hurt me, but if I hadn't just told ya' you'd never know it's so when you're having a good time viewing my Heritage Fair photographic work.

I am a low income, disabled US Army Veteran, who has spent the past decade earnestly working and fighting to recover from substantial, devastating personal and financial losses, so it was rough on me -- in several ways -- to do this photography job. But the results are outstanding.

All things considered, including an inner drive to work as long and hard everyday as is possible, I love doing as much photography as I can.

There are 26 more Heritage Fair photography blog posts on this web site. Scroll down this page and 8 more posts roll out nicely below this one; then you hit the Older Posts button at the bottom of the blog posts to see 9 more posts about the Fair -- including great shots of Micky Dolenz signing autographs after he played a Rock 'n Roll concert at the Fair. If you explore this web sight past the Heritage Fair photos you will hit on posts for the 75th Annual Dundalk 4th of July Parade and then it is Dundalk Art Show photos from 2009; then it's lots more great photos of, and true words about, the best of Dundalk, Maryland USA.

Enjoy.

Dundalk Patapsco Neck Historical Society at The Heritage Fair

Photography by David Robert Crews

The Dundalk Patapsco Neck Historical Society has a nifty little museum in Dundalk Village Shopping Center. Check it out sometime.

Bob Staab wrote a locally popular book titled "Growing Up In Dundalk" Precious Memories. And in the photo just above, at the left, Bob is the suntanned, former-lifeguard-looking type of a guy standing there showing the two ladies and dark shirted man a copy of that book. Mr. Staab was my 5th and 6th grade physical education teacher -- called a gym teacher in those olden, 1961 era, days -- at Merritt Elementary School. I also knew Mr. Staab as a lifeguard down at Dundalk Bathing Beach/Merritt Beach, which was about a half a block down the street from the home where I grew up. As a kid, I spent plenty of time "down The Beach" myself, where I learned a lot by taking Red Cross swimming lessons there while also learning a bunch of good stuff about meeting pretty girls and havin' great times with guy and gal friends and buddies.

Normally, as a professional photographer, I would have cropped that Bob Staab photo up a little closer to Bob's and the one lady's waist level -- where 'twould make it a much tighter photograph. But I simply could not resist including those "hairy-bone socks"* and little ol' low cut loafer style shoes that Bob has on; because it proves the he most definitely still is one of them lifeguard types to this very day; even though he never could have afforded to own such an expensive, nice and comfortable looking pair of shoes back during his early days of living a whole lotta time on beaches. But they were great times, now precious times, I assure you.

(*"hairy-bone socks" is a comical expression that 1960s era Dundalk teens used for a guy wearing shoes without socks on, and is a take-off on the word Herringbone, which is a pattern used in fabrics -- now that's some Dundalk history youz would never learn anywheres else!)

Dundalk Renaissance Corporationand Team Dundalk at The Fair

Photography by David Robert Crews

Dundalk Renaissance Corporation and Team Dundalk, at the Heritage Fair, promoting the full and complete revitalization of Dundalk.

Local High School Alumni Maintained Booths at The Dundalk Heritage Fair

Photography by David Robert Crews

Local high school alumni associations maintained booths at the Dundalk Heritage Fair. The Patapsco High School and Center For The Arts alumni booth is pictured above, with stacks of PHS yearbooks on the table. And there was also a booth each for Dundalk High and Sparrows Point High alumni.

Crafts Vendors Were Aplenty at The Fair

Photography by David Robert Crews

There was a long, easy row of well stocked crafts tents set up on a soft grassy lane with plenty of wide, healthy shade trees above, at the 2009 Dundalk Heritage Fair. I bought that crab shell with a moose on it for display in my home. Because for many, many, many moons I have hoped to someday have crab meat and moose meat at the same meal together. All totaled, during my 59 years so far on planet Earth, I have eaten bushels of crabs while living in Maryland near the Chesapeake Bay and the Bay's eastern, Baltimore area, backwaters. Unfortunately, in my entire life -- including times as a hunting guide up in the North Woods of Maine -- I have only been alloted the pure pleasure of consuming one moose steak; that steak was humongous and decidedly delicious.

The Petting Zoo and The Pig Races

The Petting Zoo has been a favorite at the Dundalk Heritage Fair for years. I like the zoo's turtles best of all the critters.

The shot below is only one that I managed to grab of the 2009 Heritage Fair pig races. I kept forgetting to get over there before the races began, and it was so popular that once the show started the crowd watching it was so thick that I couldn't get into a good position to take photographs from. But that's good for the Fair. And I like that, because the Fair is a community volunteer effort that I am a small part of.

Photography by David Robert Crews

Monkeying Around

Photography by David Robert Crews

Phineas T. Waggs giving his monkey pal Django a few sips of Pepsi. Phineas and Django entertained folks at the Dundalk Heritage Fair for hours.

Boy Scouts of America Troop 343 at The Dundalk Heritage Fair

Photography by David Robert Crews

Pictured above is just a small part of the good experience that the Boy Scouts of America Troop 343 created at the Dundalk Heritage Fair.

They shared their area at the fair with Venture Crew 343. We all know what the Boy Scouts are all about, but the Venture Crew is new to me. According to their web site: the venture crew is a coed group of youths who are at least age 14 or have completed the 8th grade. The crew has an activity once a month and also a week long activity sometime during June, July or August. They meet the last Thursday of each month, except on holidays. This is a youth run organization. We have a good variety of people who all get along and work well with each other. We carry out a variety of activities including things like GPS courses, bridge building, canoing, caving, white water rafting, sailing, biking, hiking and much much more. Each youth has a say in what the crew does or would like to do. If you are an outdoors person or want to become one this is the perfect group for you.

If you have any question, or if you wish to join, then send a e-mail to Crew343{at}hotmail{dot}com

The Climbing Wall at The Heritage Fair

Photography by David Robert Crews

This climbing wall was a pretty-neat addition to the free offerings at the 2009 Dundalk Heritage Fair.

Now click on that Older Posts button down below
this to see more great photos of and true words
about the best of Dundalk, Maryland.
Including more Heritage Fair stuff.