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