By Robert Tomlinson
News Director
CENTREVILLE — One of the biggest weeks in St. Joseph County has come and gone, with the St. Joseph County Grange Fair cleaning up and packing up for the year.
Organizers of the annual county fair said this year’s 174th edition of the fair went fairly smoothly and was overall a “successful” event.
“It was a very successful fair, and we are all very proud of the way that fair week went,” fair board member and Marketing Director Mindy Pleune said. “We had perfect weather besides a little bit on Friday and of course Celebration Day on Sunday, but it was a great week. We had a lot of people into the fair, and it was a perfect week.”
This year’s fair had a number of new additions to it, most notably the Tiny Tails Birthing Barn, which Pleune said was something she heard rave reviews from attendees about and was one of the more popular spots on the grounds.
“Jenny Nofziger and Sarah Miller did such a great job at putting that vision together and orchestrating all of it with all of the animals and the location of it,” Pleune said. “It was a great thing, and even adults loved it as well. It was a really great addition to the fair to add that and make it larger than what it has been.”
One of the other notable popular spots at this year’s fair, and one that drew some of the biggest crowds, was the Sea Lion Splash Encounter. Pleune said it was such a popular spot, people had arrived at least 15 minutes before many of the shows started just to ensure they had a seat to watch sea lions perform tricks, learn about the importance of recycling, and other shenanigans on stage.
“Every time I was down there or walked down there during the show, it was standing room only,” Pleune said. “I think that was one of the big highlights of the fair. We received a lot of phone calls in the office about people asking if they had to pay a separate price for that because people were kind of just coming to the fair just for that. I watched it once with my kids, and they absolutely loved it, so it was a really good show, and I’m glad that we were able to bring it to the fair, because a lot of people don’t get to see sea lions in their life, and it was good to know that we could bring something like that to St. Joseph County.”
Many of the grandstand events were well-attended this year as well. There was harness racing on the Saturday before the fair and on Monday, multiple pulling events throughout the week, the TK Pro Rodeo on Monday, a demolition derby on Wednesday and the SJO Motocross on Thursday.
“It was a great week for our grandstand events,” Pleune said.
Over at Heritage Hall, the displays on the history of Colon and Leonidas as well as a look back at the 1960s got good reviews from attendees. Each day, there was also at least one magic show, given Colon’s history as the Magic Capital of the World, and Pleune said that made this year’s fair especially unique.
“I don’t really know how many fairs you can go to and see a museum like that and a really good magic show along with it,” Pleune said.
As far as the magic performances, Pleune shouted out BJ Mallen, a local magician who filled in for regularly-scheduled guest Brynn Cummings on Saturday, who was unable to perform due to illness. Other performers included Alan Kazam, Mike Conklin, Kevin Long, Joe Bennett, Brian Penny, and John Dudley.
Over at the Community Stage, there were a number of free concerts, events and competitions throughout the week. They included cooking classes, agriculture presentations, local bands, and even a puzzle contest, the Battle of the Bands, and the annual charity pie-eating contest featuring local high school athletic teams, which was won by Three Rivers High School’s squad for the third year in a row.
“Barb and Ron Weston do a really great job at filling that community stage with tons of activities, whether it’s a band or it’s like a make-and-take or kids’ activities, Bingo every day, that is a huge thing,” Pleune said. “It was a good success.”
The fair’s midway was also packed throughout the week, with attendees enjoying the food, rides, games and more. There were 28 rides available, both for adults and for kids, and Pleune said there was a “great turnout” for those.
For some people, however, the rides and games were not the main reason for the fair, as there were a number of 4-H shows going on throughout the week, with hundreds of kids participating from all around the area, showing animals, competing in challenges, and creating projects to show their skills in a variety of disciplines.
4-H is one of the biggest parts of fair week, Pleune said, and seeing the kids’ accomplishments throughout the week, she said, was good to see.
“As a fellow 4-H-er, it’s so cool to see them in that show arena or when they’re checking in their still projects and how proud they are when they’re walking through the barns and showing people their still projects,” Pleune said. “And then all of the animals, of course, and all the shows and then the sale on Thursday. It’s really cool to see when the kids bring their projects and all that hard work that they’ve put through and that reward that they get at the end of the, you know, during the week of fair.”
On the final day of the fair, Sunday, Sept. 21, a fireworks display was held, which also got rave reviews from the crowd, according to Pleune.
“We have received a lot of feedback that’s saying that was one of the best fireworks shows that they’ve seen,” Pleune said. “It was a great fireworks display and we had a lot of people in the grandstands. We definitely had more people there this year than we did last year, so that was a success.”
The fireworks also were able to maneuver around some raindrops that came in on Sunday. Weather otherwise was fairly good throughout the week, save for Saturday and Sunday evening, when rain came through the area.
In all, Pleune thanked those who helped put the fair together and while it is her last as a member of the fair board, she looks forward to what is to come.
“I know Christina Yunker as the fair manager and all of our volunteers and all of our staff, we work super hard year-round to make sure that we put on the best fair and to make sure we have something for everybody to come see,” Pleune said. “It’s just great to know that people are coming out in strides to the fair and are still spending time at the fair.”
Robert Tomlinson can be reached at 279-7488 or robert@wilcoxnewspapers.com.
