Fabulous memories Pete! I used to work at a popcorn stand next to the grandstand some years - we had a neighbor who'd had the stand in his family for generations - he was a Naval Aviator, became and Aeronautical Engineer, then went on to be a patent attorney for Rosemount Engineering - the makers of pitot probes and air data systems for the aerospace world. Most of us kids that worked his place were college-bound - bout for a week each year, we became "Carnies"!
My other memory is landing a J-3 Cub on the empty midway lot and taxiing it through the fairgrounds to the Hippodrome for a static display at the annual Scouting Exhibition. It was a Cub that our Explorer post had recently finished rebuilding, and in which I was to get my license - the Fairground landing was with my instructor - we had a little over 1,000', tree-line to tree-line - no big deal!
Get a corn dog for me if you get there!
Paul