ALLENTOWN, Pa. – From sheep shearing to pumpkin painting and pony petting, Allentown “city slickers” were getting a fresh taste of the country inside the Agri-Plex at the Allentown Fairgrounds on Tuesday.
“It’s going to be a fun day,” said James Arce, a fourth grader within the Allentown School District.
The Great Allentown Fair is teaching local youth where their food, clothing and even honey come from.
“We wanted to teach the city kids, as we call them, about agriculture,” said Beverly Gruber, CEO of the Great Allentown Fair. “Many of them have never even touched a sheep or a pony or that kind of thing.”
“Most of these kids are separated from the agriculture world,” said Roger Bowman, owner of Winterside Farm in Berks County. “So I think it’s really important just to have them see the animals and know why we raise them and also where their food and fiber comes from.”
Each year, the annual Agriculture Education Days welcome all fourth graders across the Allentown School District.
Now in its fifth year, it’s expanded to third through fifth graders in one local private school – St. John Vianney Regional – as well.
Gruber says the applesauce-making booth always surprises kids.
“That’s the one that I think is the most amazing,” Gruber said. “They don’t understand that applesauce comes from apples.”
Kids also can learn about chickens and their embryos, as well as how to milk a fake, life-sized cow.
“I learned what chickens eat and what they do and how they eat food,” Esmeralda Acevedo, another fourth grader within the Allentown School District, said.
A beekeeper was also standing by to teach kids all about the apiary.
“There can be more than 10,000 bees in the beehive,” fourth grader, James, said. “And there are only one queen bee in each beehive.”
All in all, Gruber said, some 1,800 students will come through the Education Days, including a couple hundred more on Wednesday afternoon.
Copyright 2026 Maranatha Broadcasting Co., Inc.. All Rights Reserved.