Citra’s Orange-A-Fair made a comeback on Saturday after a six year pause due to the COVID-19 pandemic with a goal this time of raising money to renovate the community center and to turn the community’s old bank, built in the 1920s, into a museum of local history.
Citra is a community in Marion County between Ocala and Gainesville with fewer than 10,000 residents. It is known for the propagation of pineapple oranges, also known as Hickory oranges, in the mid-to-late 1800s. The groves lasted until the 1980s, when consecutive historic freezes killed the trees.
The Orange-A-Fair, hosted at Citra’s community center, highlighted events such as a cake auction, ugly truck contest, bounce house and pictures with “unicorns”. Vendors like Racks ‘N’ Rhinestones displayed jewelry and hats, while Florida Blue informed guests of health care and insurance products.
Long-time residents like Altha Wimberly, 83, have watched Orange-A-Fair grow over the years. Wimberly moved to Citra in 1961 when she married her husband, Wallace. She said the Orange-A-Fair was originally started in the early 2000s as a way for community members to get to know each other, and wasn’t an event with a goal to raise money…