By Robert Tomlinson
News Director
CENTREVILLE — The 175th anniversary of the St. Joseph County Grange Fair is in the books, and for new fair manager Regina Schinker, she said the milestone anniversary fair was an overall successful one.
“It was so rewarding to see the families, to see the communities come and take part and celebrate our 175th anniversary,” Schinker said. “There’s such a huge appreciation for everyone who plays a part in putting on the event; it cannot be done by one person or a handful of people. It truly takes an army of people who work incredibly hard in a variety of areas to pull it off.”
Known as one of the busiest weeks of the year in St. Joseph County, this year’s fair saw plenty of what Schinker called “strong” turnout in a number of different areas for the majority of the week. The strong attendance stemmed mostly from the crowds on Monday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday, as well as the grandstand entertainment, the Community Tent, and the 4-H shows that occurred throughout the week.
The week did not get off to a great start weather-wise, with rain showers on the first Saturday and Sunday of the fair keeping folks away for the most part. It threw a wrench into some of the fair’s plans, forcing the postponement of both days of harness racing to this past Sunday and the cancellation of Sunday afternoon’s Farm Truck Pulls and Too-Hot-To-Farm Tractor Pulls.
Schinker said it was “always disappointing” to have to postpone or cancel events, but she thought the fair handled the situation well.
“When you’re looking at the radar and it’s all green, it’s like, ‘Oh, how are we going to get through this?’” Schinker said. “But, with patience and persistence, we got through it. Everybody came out in strength and numbers by Monday and throughout the week. So, we knew we could count on the community to come out.”
Schinker said the turnout for the rescheduled harness racing on Sunday was “excellent,” with some food vendors sticking around for the unexpected second Sunday.
As for the afternoon truck pulls on the first Sunday, Schinker said it was also disappointing to cancel that event.
“You never want that to happen because you don’t want people disappointed. You know, they look forward to it, but when you can’t do it, you just can’t do it,” Schinker said.
The vast majority of the grandstand events were well-attended throughout the week, most notably the TK Pro Rodeo on Thursday, Sept. 24 and the NTPA Regional National Modified Truck and Tractor Pulls on Friday night, Sept. 25. Crowds for those two events were packed, especially the rodeo, where there did not seem to be many empty seats.
However, one of the higher-profile grandstand events did not get the turnout organizers hoped. The Josh Gracin concert that headlined Saturday night’s activities was sparsely attended in the grandstand, with only a very small handful of attendees on the track near the stage. Plus, there was reportedly communication issues about whether or not chairs would be allowed on the track for seating, which was only resolved within a couple hours before the start of the show on social media.
While Schinker said those who attended the concert enjoyed what they saw, she admitted they had hoped for quite a bit more attendance-wise, and the low turnout could lead to discussions about future concerts at the fair.
“We watched the ticket sales leading up to Josh Gracin, and we had hoped that when the day came and it was a beautiful evening, which it was, that we would see a significant jump in sales, and I know that the people that attended the concert were very happy with it and really enjoyed it, but I think it’s safe to say that we had hoped for a better turnout,” Schinker said.
“I think any time you have an event that doesn’t necessarily end up how you had hoped it would, you have to step back and think, ‘Okay, is this what our community wants, and what can we do moving forward to bring entertainment that will be well-received in the future?’”
A lot of the other areas at the fair were well-received this year, including Heritage Hall, which focused on the communities of Centreville and Nottawa, the decade of the 1970s, and memorabilia and history of the county fair for its milestone anniversary. The free Steamers Thrill Show, which had multiple performances on nearly every day of the fair, was also a highlight, with the wooden bleachers packed for many of the showtimes. The Community Tent also had many people come and go throughout the week with different free activities, which Schinker also called a “success.”
In all, Schinker said, “There really wasn’t an area that didn’t do well.”
“Steamers Thrill Show, packed stands, the Museum of the Horseless Carriage had quite a bit of traffic, the whole Area 52, Heritage Park with Tony the Wood Carver, lots of interest in that,” Schinker said. “Everywhere you looked, there were people smiling and making happy memories.”
As for 4-H, Schinker said she heard that local 4-H leaders were “very happy” with how this year’s programs went.
Looking back, Schinker said there are places with the fair that can be improved for future years under her leadership, while also “clarity” on what needs to be kept the same. One of the things that impressed her the most, she said, was the traditions of the fair whenever she walked around to observe the happenings.
“What impressed me the most was the traditions and how people continue to support the youth who are involved with the fair and the gratitude that they gave to my team for my team’s hard work and their enthusiasm for what’s to come,” Schinker said. “Just a general appreciation for the fair and what the fair brings to the community and agricultural education.”
Overall, Schinker said she was proud of her team at the fair in what they were able to accomplish and what they can accomplish in the future.
“It was absolutely successful. My team worked really hard in a very short period of time to get ready because I came on board essentially in early June. A lot of the plans were in place, but it was a matter of kind of finalizing, tidying up, and implementing a few new things,” Schinker said. “Overall, we walked away feeling accomplished and encouraged and excited about what’s in store.”
Robert Tomlinson can be reached at 279-7488 or robert@wilcoxnewspapers.com.
