Need to know something about entertainers at the fair?

Chris Eckert can tell you.

He’s the emcee for the fair, introducing all the acts who appear on stage.

He’ll start off the fair with the opening and the fair queen and move on through the week to the wood carving auction and the last band Saturday night, Brian Dean Moore.

Eckert will also take the stage himself for his traditional country and gospel sets at 7 and 8:30 p.m. Sunday.

The former West End fire chief got noticed when he would emcee the now defunct fire company carnival. The fair approached him and he was happy to oblige since he hasn’t missed a fair.

Nine years ago, he retired and moved to Wellsboro but he is back every year. He and his wife and their dog are on the road for five months, as he also performs at fairs in Potter and Tioga counties, Plainfield, Jersey Shore, Greene Dreher Sterling and Indiana, Pa.

The classic country songs always include songs by George Jones, Willie Nelson, Waylon Jennings and Johnny Cash.

“I always have to do a George Jones song,” he said. At one fair he forgot and apologized the next day and quickly made up for it.

The rural fairs have quite a classic country following, especially with young people. “These kids growing up on farms and competing in tractor pulls, know the old songs by heart,” Eckert said.

Everyone knows Cash’s iconic “Ring of Fire.” At the West End Fair there’s a walkway between the stage and the audience. When he’s performing the classic, he’ll see people stop in the middle and start mouthing the words to the song. “Young people come up to me and ask me to do the song,” he said.

But his heart is in the gospel songs. “I’ve been blessed,” he said. “This summer I am doing about 100 shows.”

“Amazing Grace” and “How Great Thou Art” are beloved. Others that move people include “Softly and Tenderly,” “Heaven Just Got Sweeter for You” and “Never Too Broken to Belong.”

“Heaven Just Got Sweeter for You” is about a loved one passing and waiting for their relative.

“When I sing it I see people crying,” he said. They’ll come up afterward and say the song gives them hope.

Those times are especially endearing to him.

The West End Fairgrounds remains a favorite for him, with the trees lining the paths. They’re pretty but also provide cooling shade.

“It’s such a good feeling to go out and entertain people,” he said. “It means the world to me.”