H - University of Illinois

By
BETTY
ECKHARDT
State Agent. West Virginia
University Extension.
{ j \ 70U had a good fair!" The president of the
Pocahontas County
Y
Fair heard this same re-
J[ mark year after year,—"YOU had a good fair."
He felt that something must be wrong. He
and the board of directors had been giving unselfishly of
their time and energy to make a Peoples' Fair and still they
said, "you had a good fair." Somewhere the "soul" of the
thing had been killed. The directors went over the
situation carefull y to find their mistake. They must have
found it and remedied it , for now the president hears on
every turn , "Say! didn 't we have a fine fair this year?"
The "revival" was brought about in this way. First,
they revised their premium list so that it would appeal to a
great many people with varied interests. Then they
planned to have the people furnish a part of the entertainment,
and this story tells how they did it.
First they called together presidents of community
councils, high school principals, Sunday School superintendents,
and representatives from the various organized
groups from all over the county. Just to insure their
coming, the fair board made it a luncheon meeting. The
county agent was invited and also the state agent. During
the discussion the group decided that the four districts
should compete in five entertainment features as given in
the accompany ing score card and that the number of
people participating and miles traveled would also count
in the final score. The Fair County Association offered
four cash prizes. The score card was arranged so that the
district winning the greatest number of points received
first prtee, but it also allowed for different districts to win
first place in the various events.
Competitive Features and Score Card
Points
1st. 2nd. 3rd. 4th.
1. Number of people participating 25 20 15 10
2. Average number miles traveled 25 20 15 10
3. Old fiddlers contest _ 25 20 15 10
4. Orchestra 40 35 30 25
5. Community chorus possible 50 points
6. Dramatic event possible 50 points
7. Pageant or festival possible 100 points
Each district was asked to furnish the
entertainment between the races in front
of the grand stand for one day. The
district that won first place in each event
was asked to repeat it on the fifth day.
Final contests in the horse shoe tournament
and in the old fiddlers contest were
held on the last day also.
The first two points on the score card
did much to help keep everyone happy.
Communities nearby lost out on number
of miles traveled , but made up for it on
number of people present. At the end of
each day each committee chairman gave
the judges a list of those who actually
took part and the number of miles
traveled by each one. These were
counted to get the score for item No. 1
and averaged to get the score for No. 2.
The chairman made a special effort to
9{ome
^Jalent ^aves
the ^air
encourage those who lived in the more distant communities
to take part. Many of these had never attended the fair
before.
The old fiddlers contest was conducted in the grand
stand. There was little difficulty in getting contestants
since "the woods are full of fiddlers. " The music alone did
not carry to all parts of the grand stand, but when the
fiddlers were put on a raised platform and a jigging contest
was added , the whole grand stand cheered.
JVAUSIC is said to be the "universal language." It proved
^»* so with the community orchestras. They were literally
made up of the "butcher , baker , and candlestick maker."
The members of one were a barber, a garage owner, a
tannery employe, a dentist, a clerk, a hardware merchant,
a farmer, a poolroom owner, and a tannery superintendent.
In practicing they played for many public gatherings.
The chief value to them, of course, was in the preparation.
The orchestra took on the name of "Shake Rag" and is
practicing now for next year's fair.
Among the most popular "free acts" were the community
choruses. Each group came in costume. "Ye Olde Time
Singing School," shown in one of the illustrations , came
from Huntersville district. These folks had little contact
with the fair before this time. The preparation for the
fair stands out as one of the biggest pieces of cooperative
work they have ever done.
To present a 15 minute act before a grand stand is no
small task. When enthusiasm is high , half the battle is
won. The dramatic events included a Virgina reel in
costume, an old square dance, dramatized songs, and a
circus day parade. This last event won first place. A
successful livestock farmer acted as "ring master." The
crowd agreed that he would' probably make more money
by taking his troop "on the road."
The pageants were night spectacles and were done on a
platform in front of the grand stand. The pictures they
"YE OLDE TIME SINGING SCHOOL," IN COSTUME , MADE A HIT
THE ORCHESTRA LITER-
ALLY INCLUDED THE
"BUTCHER, BAKER AND
CANDLESTICK MAKER." A
FEATURE OF THE PARADE IS
AT THE LEFT, AND BELOW
HORSE SHOE RIVALS ARE
MEASURINO A CLOSE POINT
presented will always be among the beautiful memories of
the spectators. One district presented a harvest festival.
A song and dance festival made a gay spectacle on a second
evening, A district with an unusually strong Sunday
School organization gave a beautiful presentation of a
religious pageant called "The Flag of The World." A
historical pageant won first place. It centered around the
John Smith and Pocahontas story. "Braves" on horse
back added much to this spectacle. Some of Pocahontas'
own decendants helped in the writing and presentation of
this pageant.
This fair had a number of other entertainment features
that Were not included in the score card. The horse shoe
tournament was among the most popular of these. Twentynine
community champions took part. Each morning a
base ball game was played in spite of the rain. In the
afternoon the farmers donned their red breeches and contested
for the championship in soccer foot ball , and interest
was very keen. Some of the players were 45 years old.
ONE hundred and ten of the finest race horses from all
the country around spent the week of the fair in the
stables. The continual drizzle and rain made it impossible
to carry out the racing program. In front of the grand
stand there was ten inches of water. High gum boots
were the approved foot wear. Some of the characters
for the Indian pageant were brought on in boats.
Not even the wind and water could stop the local horse
show, the mule races and the potato races. There were
"gents' all-day saddle classes," ladies' saddle class,
farmers' class, etc. The potato race was most popular.
It reminded one a bit of the "knights of old." Each rider
was given a long spear and assigned a small box in front of
the grand stand. A one-eight mile circle was arranged
within the race track. A barrel with potatoes was placed
an the far side of the circle opposite the grand stand. At
the signal each rider rode around to the barrel , speared a
potato, deposited it in his box and rode
back for another. The man spearing the
greatest number of potatoes in ten minutes
was pronounced the winner.
The mud and rain have been mentioned.
On the first day the directors
were a "sorry looking lot," but they sang
a "hymn of thanksgiving" before the end
cf the week. In spite of the mud and the
almost continuous drizzle, each district
came out to uphold its honor. Of course,
the other districts came out of curiosity
and the result was most satisfactory,
particularl y from a financia l standpoint.
The fair directors agreed that without
home-talent entertainment there wouldn't
have been one hundred people on the
grounds each day. They rejoiced, too,
over the fact that they had discovered a
way to have a 'Teoples' Fair."They call
"Home Talent Entertainment" the "finest
kind of advertising" and the best
kind of "rain insurance." Moreover, it
exerted a good community influence.