#sergio comissiona

[retrobaltimore]

Entertainment chairman recalls the first City Fair

[Weyman Swagger, The Baltimore Sun]

“I had a budget of $600 for the three days but I had Sergiu Comissiona [maestro of the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra] on Friday night (free -- we had to borrow music stands from Polytechnic Institute) and Saturday night was Ethel Ennis with the US Army jazz band. Free too.”

Heuisler recalled the brief but windy storm that ripped through early Sunday morning.

“We all headed downtown to pick up the pieces. The Baltimore City Pipe Band opened that morning and the lads … caught in the spirits of it all … marched right through the Miss Allied Florists Beauty Pageant. … Amazing what you can do with a $600 budget,” Heuisler said.

The City Fair was established in 1970 and ran for nearly 20 years.