The History of Country Paradise Park
Country Paradise Park was born out of one man’s American Dream.
That man was David (Dave)E. Fair (from Kittanning, PA), married to Ruth
Wiles Fair (from East Brady, PA). The Fair’s lived in Austintown, Ohio with
their 4 children – Helen Fair Haslup, Shirley Fair Moyer, David (Dave)W.
Fair and Dennis (Burrhead) Fair.
Dave worked as a machinist at Youngstown Sheet and Tube, drove
school bus for Austintown Public Schools, drove black top trucks in the
summers when school was out and enjoyed auctioneering with his father
on weekends. Dave was an avid hunter, played softball into his 40’s and
belonged to a local bowling league. Ruth was a stay-at-home-mom who
was actively involved in raising her children with unconditional love and
deepset values. She eventually went to work in a box factory after her
youngest child went to 1 st grade.
Routinely, Dave and Ruth would have card playing with a little beer
drinking get togethers with Dave’s brother Don and Don’s wife Ruby Wiles
Fair (Ruth’s twin). Donald (Duck)E. Fair and Ruby had 5 children and lived
in Austintown and Canfield, Ohio: Susan Fair Bowser, Edward Fair, Rita
Fair Winger, Dean Fair, and John Fair. Don was a cross country self-
employed truck driver and an avid hunter. He and Ruby raised their
children with unconditional love and deep-set values. Ruby, like Ruth, was
a stay-at-home mom and went to work as a bookkeeper after her youngest
was in school. Ruby also assisted with Don’s self-employed accounting
needs over the years. At one of these card playing gatherings in 1971,
Dave disclosed his dream to Don, Ruth and Ruby. At first, the foursome
questioned their ability to turn Dave’s dream into a reality. The more they
talked about it -the more determined Dave was to make it a reality. He had
everything figured out in his head and Don was right there with Dave! The
twins were initially leary, but willing to follow their husbands into a new
adventure. They decided to bring their father, Roy D. Fair and mother Wilda
Early Fair into the conversation in 1971.
The two brothers and their father pulled together all their assets and
purchased a 193-acre parcel of Western Pennsylvania’s smooth rolling hills
on which the park would be built. The land was owned by the Brown
Family. Dave, Don, and Roy searched for the perfect location. They came
across this property and sought out the nearest living relative with rights to
the property. Through the Kittanning Courthouse, Dave located the owners
who lived in California. The Brown’s parcel was originally a part of a large
farm that hadn’t been operational in years. Natives of the area still refer to
the intersection off State Route 268 going through the land as Brown’s
Crossroads.
Between 1972 and 1973, both brothers’ families permanently
relocated to East Brady, Pennsylvania
Many names were tossed around before they decided on the park’s
name. The name Country Paradise Park was chosen from many ideas. It
came down to a family vote with Hillbilly Heaven coming in second. The
logo was designed by the senior art class of East Brady High School 1973
with a $100 prize and with the understanding the logo’s rights would belong
to the Fair Family.
A full ceremonial groundbreaking with media support for the park
occurred on April 10, 1973. Soon after, the Park began to
take shape. A 100’ x 150’ x 16’ all-steel building was erected with sound
insulation strategically installed to amplify a beautiful sound from the
performers. The 20’ x 40’ stage was built 5’ off the ground. The building
was erected at the foot of a hill and was slightly graded to eliminate vision
barriers to the stage. Between 2,000 -3,000 people could be seated under
the roof in the otherwise open-air structure.
The building butted against a cement block and wood frame-built
addition that had dressing rooms on the 2nd floor for the entertainers and
the bottom floor housed restrooms, a walk-in freezer and cooler, 2 separate kitchens, and the electrical room for the entire park.
Over 10,000’ of drain lines were put in place to drain the fields of water
as quickly as possible in rainstorms. Even with this draining system, we had
to pull many vehicles from parking spots over the years.
The Fair Family maintained the park. The family did hire local help for
security, ticket collectors, parking, traffic control, kitchen help, and cleanup.
Over 95% of the daily operational duties were completed by family
members. The park was born out of one man’s dream. The entire Fair
family enjoyed building a community with regular and newcomer patrons. The
dream ended in the early 80s when the economy spiraled down.
Nevertheless, the memories live on, and we would love to have you share
your memories of Country Paradise Park. You are cordially invited to leave
comments and memories on the blog page.