I don't think I had ever been around so many hippies in my life

'I don't think I had ever been around so many hippies in my life'

http://www.kval.com/news/50497637.html

By Molly Blancett KVAL News and KVAL.com staff
Jul 10, 2009

VENETA, Ore. -- In 1969, college student Toby Albes took a trip from
Los Angeles to Oregon to attend the first of what would be four
decades of Oregon Country Fairs.

"Pretty overwhelming. I don't think I had ever been around so many
hippies in my life," Albes said of her first fair. "The thing that
was so amazing to me is that people would look at you in the eye and
smile and just accept you for who you are."

The Oregon Country Fair kicked off the three-day run outside Veneta,
Ore., Friday. The fairgrounds were packed since the gates opened at noon.

The fair offers a special pass to fair elders like Albes, but they
have to earn it: Elders are at least 55 years old and have worked at
the fair for at least 20 years. Albes estimated there are 400 fair elders.

Today, the owner of Toby's Tofu Palace prepares mushrooms and onions
for a fair that hasn't changed much, Albes said.

The world outside the fair is another matter: Albes feels the world
has caught on to the fair's message of sustainable living.

She hasn't lost the feeling from her first fair. Now she's passing it
on to her kids and soon her grandkids, whom she hopes one day will
take over the tofu palace and keep the tradition of the oregon
country fair alive for another 40 years.

"It's a magical place," Albes said.

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