Leonard at Large

Attend "One of Missouri's Finest" fairs

Next week, July 12-17, the 59th Annual Vernon County Youth Fair will be held, and it's "One of Missouri's Finest." This tradition has continued as a great event -- from one generation to another.

There are many wonderful aspects of the fair. The fair board and the many volunteers put much effort toward the success of the fair and to benefit the youth who are involved.

The fair is a great learning experience for the exhibitors as well as for people attending the fair. There are many adults who look back on their experiences at fairs of the past and the great memories that they had. One of the reasons that many of the leaders are involved with the fair -- including fair board members -- is that the fair was valuable to them in their youth. Many develop a taste for exhibiting and being involved in the fair, and this interest carries over into adult life.

It takes more than facilities to make a fair; however, good facilities are helpful and contribute to the success of an event. The facilities at the Vernon County Youth Fair are among the best in the state -- especially among youth fairs. Vernon County's barns, buildings and arena are source of envy for many others. Not only is it good for the fair, but Centennial Park is a draw for other events to be held in the community.

Nearly each year there has been an improvement to the fairgrounds. If this is not done, then such facilities typically decline in quality.

When the fair starts next week, everything is going to be looking good. Continuous improvement also helps to maintain interest in the fair through the effort to make it better each year.

This year, a major improvement has been made for the swine barn. For some time I had noticed that there were people working in the building, using steel to replace the wooden poles and beams.

Much work went into the structure. It was evident that the improvements cost a great amount. Skilled workers were needed; it wasn't a case of just pounding nails or something that nearly anyone can do. As much time that was going into it, it was expected that the labor was being hired.

I was in the building nearly a month ago. Seeing is believing. Metal pens are constructed on concrete floors. The structure is much improved and is strong. It is impressive.

Tracy Pitts, youth fair president, said that $26,700 was invested into the building using funds raised through contributions from individuals and businesses. A grant was also received from the Moss Foundation. He told me earlier in the year that people of this county really support the fair. This is only one example that illustrates how much support there is for the fair.

The entire project was done with volunteers. It is amazing how much effort and time that volunteers put into developing and improving the facilities. This included the welding that needed to be done and the pouring of the concrete. There were crews that came from other communities to help with the improvement, as well. It is worth going to the fairgrounds to see the improvements that have been constructed in the hog barn.

The fair board, all of the volunteers and the many donors all deserve a bouquet of four-leaf clovers.

Along with the remodeling of the swine barn comes questions about the original building, relating to how long it's been there and how it was used in the past. As I remember, the building was built as a livestock building in 1962. One of the reasons for building the structure was to avoid renting tents. The cost of the building was about equal to renting a tent for three years, saving money in the long-run.

The building at that time held all of the livestock for the fair, including swine, beef, dairy, and swine. The animals were shown in the open on the east side of the building. There was an old barracks that had been moved to the grounds and the metal building that is now used for sheep. These two buildings were used for other exhibits and were crowded. I am of the opinion that the metal building was there when the fair grounds were purchased.

Building the livestock building was not a small undertaking. Jim McCall, county agent, was the secretary of the fair. He was the one taking the lead on the youth fair from extension.

There was one person who was placed in charge of the project, to coordinate the volunteers and to obtain the needed supplies. I think that person was paid and all of the others were volunteers. Now, I need some help. I seem to remember that this person was Elton Garton, but it may have been C. A. Comstock. It seems like the original building later expanded. I know what is now the cattle barn was added on to the original part of the building. It was used for a beef barn, and there was so many beef exhibits that an addition was needed. Now it is used for both dairy and beef cattle. As the number of sheep and hogs at the fair grew, the fair board had the dairy exhibits moved to the other barn. They were not well received by some of the beef people, who wanted to maintain it as a beef barn. However, they were soon accepted and the beef barn became a cattle barn.

It is estimated that there will be nearly 400 exhibitors at this year's fair. Each exhibitor receives a T-shirt. That was a good thing for the fair board to start doing. Each exhibitor is encouraged to wear the shirt when exhibiting livestock.

Tracy said that it takes $30,000 to operate the fair, which includes premium money for the exhibitors. The fair board sponsors a rodeo to help raise funds for the fair.

Much of it depends on donations. All donations are appreciated to help make the fair "One of Missouri's Finest."