I truly look forward to the Allegan County Fair, and for me, it starts a couple of weeks earlier when the Minnesota State Fair, also known as the Great Minnesota Get Together, begins. Our family went to it almost every year; now I vicariously enjoy the Minnesota State Fair by listening to the broadcasts on WCCO radio out of the Twin Cities. Added to it are the short reels on YouTube and elsewhere.
As a youngster our folks would also take us each year to the much smaller Olmsted County Fair in my hometown. Growing up, it was the next best thing to Christmas. There was so much to see - livestock, farm machinery, all of the commercial booths, all of the unhealthy food we were forbidden the rest of the year, the Midway and more. Part of the fun was coming home with as much swag as we could collect: Rulers and yardsticks, pencils and ball point pens, sun visors and key chains, and those soft rubbery coin purses some of us Olds still use. Plus, political campaign stuff from both parties. I scooped it all up.
Then, after a few years, the county fair seemed to lose its charm. It seemed so small, much dirtier, and far less interesting. Father always wanted to go, so I tagged along, and I found a new form of entertainment. I filled out all of the contest and entry forms so the Olds could win a Deluxe Set of Genuine Steak Knives, a life-time subscription to the National Geographic Magazine, or the World Book Encyclopedia, help from financial advisors, and even electric organs. The Olds were not amused when, for several weeks, the telephone would ring, always at dinnertime, with someone wanting to sell more stuff. Nor was Mother impressed when a fellow dropped off two twenty-four can cases of Cream of Mushroom Soup.
My enthusiasm for a fair flipped again when I had my first job at the local museum, I was persuaded to volunteer to hold the fort at the Historical Society’s one room schoolhouse. The director was a regular Tom Sawyer as he told me all of the delights and wonders of this assignment, and he was convinced no one was better suited for the job than I was. I fell for it - hook, line, and sinker. We were right next to the Legion Beer and Bingo Tent. Every few minutes the commandant would shout, “It’s bingo, bongo, bingo time!” After every game several bleary eyed Olds would stagger in to look over the school and then stagger back out. One of them who was pretty well lit up confused me for my uncle who had been dead for several decades.
Others came into the building, grandchildren in tow, and told them how they attended the school years earlier, pointed out where they sat, and all of the fun of the ‘good old days.’ Sometimes the children were fascinated; sometimes not so much.
Now that I am one of the Olds, I have rediscovered the joys of the county fair, this time in Allegan. I think it is a great adventure and tremendous fun. We are so fortunate to live here.
I think there are two basic types of fair-goers. The first pays their admission, wanders around for an hour or three, and doesn’t find much that staves of boredom, fusses over the cost of the food and entertainment, and goes home, claiming that the fair isn’t the way it used to be. The second type is actively engaged and invested in at least one or more aspects of the fair. They cannot wait to go through the gates and go into mourning on the closing day. The two types view the fair from entirely different perspectives.
I fit in the second category. For me, it starts in July when the Pie Making Brigade of Good Shepherd Episcopal Church swings into action. Every Wednesday evening they put together about two dozen fruit pies, using the same recipes as their predecessors. Some of the fellows go over to our booth and give it a good cleaning. Others deal with the Health Department, the Fair Board, and other agencies. They start organizing the food and the rotation of volunteers. Even if I don’t get in on much of that, we hear about it at the Sunday morning coffee hour, and it becomes a community-building experience.
And then the funny REALLY begins!
That is just one small booth in a very large operation, but seeing what happens with that booth makes me appreciate the entire fair. Look at everything that happens during Fair Week, and then realize it is the result of a solid year of herculean efforts to make it happen. Start with just one small facet, and before long you can appreciate Fair Week as a whole. Ask yourself who organizes the Masterful Company of Traffic Directors and Car Parkers who work from early morning into late at night. They are there regardless of the weather. Who oversees the collection of trash and litter to make sure the place looks good? How does all of the food and supplies get to the right place? Or, all of the judges in the different categories? The list goes on. Realizing all the people that do the work and appreciating their efforts is what makes it possible to appreciate the wonders of a truly good county fair. Allegan’s is consistently a great fair!
Walk into the livestock barns, the horticulture and art buildings and take a long look around. You’ll see this year’s biggest pumpkin, but let your imagination slip into gear and think about all the work that went into raising it from a seed. Take a look at some of the preserves and realize the pride the winners took in winning a ribbon in return for all of their work. Or stand in front of some of the art, and if you are lucky, you might see an excited child pointing out their piece and their ribbon. Spend a few minutes in the barns and see the devotion the young people have, not just to their animal, but the whole tradition of farming.
Perhaps another example of why the Allegan Fair truly outshines similar fairs are all the folks who pull their campers, RVs, and Fifth Wheelers to the fairgrounds. They plan ahead, and then comes the day they get to back in to their spot, and set up camp for the week. I know that some of them are working at the fair. Others are showing livestock or running a booth. From what I have observed, many of them intentionally choose make Fair Week into their Vacation Week. They connect with friends they might not have seen since the previous fair and enjoy themselves. Many of them have been doing it for years, if not decades.
Over the years, county and even state fairs across the nation, have slipped into the mists of history. Sometimes it is because the demographics have changed. More often than not, it is because people lost interest and moaned that it was not worth all the time and effort.
Not here. That’s what makes for our great fair, and just as importantly, helps build up the wider community.
