 |
| Between 120 and 180 people typically volunteer at the Lodi Agriculture Fair. The only people paid at the fair are those who work at the carnival, one of the biggest draws to the event. This year, 750 people purchased all-you-can-ride wristbands before the fair opened on Thursday. |
BARRY ADAMS
LODI — My daughter Leah hit it on the head as
we entered downtown Lodi.
The 11-year-old pried her eyes away from my
iPhone, looked at the collection of historic buildings and dubbed the place
"homey."
It was a dead-on assessment but not just for
the city's central business district.
What is now called the Lodi Agriculture Fair
has been a summer staple in this southern Columbia County community for 147
years and is the area's signature event.
Unlike most county fairs that charge
admission and limit entries to those living in the county, the fair here is
free and gets entries from six area counties and two other states.
The event serves as an annual reunion for
many, including Shellie Roberds, who grew up in Lodi but lives near Savannah,
Ga. She has two children, ages 9 and 10.
"I want them to experience what I did as
a kid," Roberds said. "I love coming."
Roberds' mother, Rose Holerud, has worked at
the fair for 40 years and at one time entered canned venison and green beans.
Her husband, Merlin, who died in March, spent years flipping hamburgers and
pulling battered cars from the annual demolition derby.
"It brings so many generations
together," Holerud said.
The fair, which ends Sunday and typically
draws about 10,000 people over four days, is simple, historic and uncluttered.
Absent are commercial vendors that dot other
fairs. Instead, the vendors at Lodi's fair, one of only a few independent fairs
in the state, consist of church groups, 4-H clubs and other civic organizations
selling food and drinks.
Everyone who works at the fair, minus the
carnival, is a volunteer.
There's almost 5,000 exhibits brought in, and
some need to be fed and watered and kept in the shade.
Others consist of paintings, drawings, photographs,
craft projects, quilts and other projects that fill two buildings, including
the rink at the Lodi Curling Club.
"We are a true country fair," said
Stormy Cooley, secretary of the fair board. "Everybody gives their own
time. That's our biggest asset."
According to Paul Dalton, who in 2010 wrote a
history of the fair for the Lodi Enterprise, the Lodi Union Agricultural
Society was organized after 1863, when the Columbia County Agriculture Society,
known today as the Columbia County Fair, held its annual exhibition in Lodi.
The county fair is now in Portage and this year marks 161 years, along with
fairs in Dane and Iowa counties. Waukesha County has the state's oldest fair,
dating back to 1842.
The first Lodi Union Fair was held in October
1866 just west of the downtown on land that is now home to the Presbyterian
church, its congregation formed in 1851. The fair moved to its current location
in 1875, according to Dalton, and now covers 54 acres.
This is where they auction off homemade pies
for hundreds of dollars each as part of a fundraiser and where 750 wristbands
for the carnival were sold at $15 each before opening day.
This year's entertainment included rock and
country music and concludes today with polka from Gary's Ridgeland Dutchmen. A
tractor pull closes out the fair at 6 tonight.
But like most fairs, the animals and the
youth are central to its success. The fair's information office serves as a
miniature museum for the event, showing off pictures, ribbons, posters and
other memorabilia. It includes a trophy for Grand Champion Dairy Showmanship.
The 1969 honor went to Lodi-area native Tom Wopat, who would have been 17 years
old at the time and 10 years away from his starring role on "The Dukes of
Hazzard" television show.
Mathew Karls, 9, of the town of Springfield
near Waunakee, showed a broad-breasted white turkey that hatched March 12. He
named the bird Mila, after a character in the "Jigsaw Jones Mystery"
series.
When I visited with the excited exhibitor
last week, he was making sure his chirping entry had plenty of water and a soft
bed of sawdust.
"She's the shortest, but she has the
fullest breast," Mathew said. "I've got eight more at home."
Rachel Hellenbrand will be taking her
1,400-pound Holstein home today but will cart the 3-year-old beast off to the
Dane County Fair later this week. If the rural Cross Plains teen had to pick
just one fair, the decision would be easy.
"It's laid back here," said
Hellenbrand, 15. "Dane County is a lot of concrete."
Barry Adams covers regional news for the
State Journal. Send him ideas for On Wisconsin at 608-252-6148 or by email at badams@madison.com.
Original Article here
No comments:
Post a Comment