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Grange Fairs Around the Country

Grange Fairs, like this on in Boone County, are held every year.

By DeAnn Hadix-Cardarella

A summer highlight for many Americans has been an annual tradition for generations. Each summer, Grange-sponsored fairs lure thousands of people looking to enjoy the local flavors, competitions and even amusement rides and entertainment.

At one time, Grange Fairs were very common, but over the decades, many have faded away or fallen under new sponsorship. Others have continued to thrive each year building on the year before.

Although it is impossible to cover each and every Grange-sponsored fair in this edition, we will highlight a sampling across the Nation.

Pennsylvania has several Grange-sponsored fairs. A very popular one is the Centre County Grange Encampment and Fair. Those who faithfully attend it each year know it best as “Grange Fair.” This year’s 133rd annual fair will run Aug. 24-30.

It is often described as a city within a town. Campers stay for the week by bringing their own trailer or are accommodated by the one of the many tents set up for the event.

Joe Hartle, Jr. is a Granger and president of the fair committee. He believes the Centre County event is one of the most unique in the Nation.

“It started in 1874 and is most unique because of the 975 tents that people stay in and the 1,400 RVs and campers that set up for the week. Families live there for 10 days. It is an agricultural fair with entertainment. For most fairs, people come and go. But at our fair, they stay and live there for 10 days,” he said.

The Grange Fair host many top name performers and the entertainment is included in the price of admission. There are exhibits and competitions which feature talented artists, craftsmen, cooks and bakers.

Joe said the Pomona owns the fair grounds. The 12 Subordinate Granges in Centre County are all apart of it. Grange members make up the fair committee with at least two from each Grange. Joe said it depends on how large the Grange is as to how many seats they have on the organizing committee. Some Granges can have up to five members. There are 35 members in all on the board.

Joe said he has been a board member for 57 years. Plans for the next fair always start the week after the closing of the fair. “We do it while things are fresh in our minds,” he said.

The neighboring state of Ohio also has several fairs including one sponsored by the Mile Branch Grange # 933. That Grange has hosted a community fair since 1920 in Columbian County.

In 2006, that fair celebrated the 50th year anniversary of the three-day event at its current home on Grange-owned fair grounds.

Mile Branch Grange #933 is the home Grange for Ohio State Master Viola Wayne. She has helped with the fair for years. Before they owned the fair grounds, they had the fair at the Grange Hall. Then in 1956, they purchased 23 acres of ground and added a large commercial building for exhibits.

A stilt walker entertains fairgoers while roaming the 22006 CT Agricultural Fair

The county fair features nightly entertainment with musical groups. There are two nights of tractor pulls – a very popular event and hog wrestling – always a sell-out according to Viola. She laughed and said, “It is a standing-room-only crowd to watch someone drop a pig in a barrel of muddy water.

“We have Grange displays open to Grangers and non-Grangers that feature canning, baking and arts. Dinners can serve as many as 1,000 in an evening. Meals are family style.”

Viola attributes the success of the annual event to the dedicated Grangers who work hard to make it happen each year. She said the township residents also pitch in and help where they can.

Viola said the event builds community spirit.

In Oregon, there is a community fair 100-years strong. It is sponsored by the Springwater Grange #263. The community-gathering event features a horse show and exhibits. Canned goods and vegetables are shown. The sole purpose of the event is for fellowship. It brings the community together.

Connecticut has many fairs throughout their state. One such fair is in its 39th year. This fair is exclusively a Grange-operated fair. However, the 39th anniversary of the fair is a time of reflection for the organizing committee. Last year’s rains, resulted in the fair operating at a loss. Organizers are taking the year to reevaluate the event and restructure some things. The fair has traditionally had its run during the last week in July. According to organizers, it tends to be either the hottest or the wettest weather.

Fair organizers are committed to the event. They insist they are not planning on the fair going away, but rather are keeping positive in an effort to make it profitable. They believe they have to evolve. People change and times change and organizers believe they too must change or they will find themselves in trouble.

Illinois residents are treated to the Boone County Grange, compliments of the Granges in that county. According to Darlene Henniger, out of the 105 fairs in Illinois, there is only one that can compare to the attendance they do at the fair.

“We are a six-day fair,” she said. “Our daily average was better than the top fair. But their overall attendance topped ours. Theirs is a 10-day event.

“We advertise a family fair. We try to keep it family oriented. There is no liquor. A lot of people like that. Everyone always looks forward to the extra grounds acts and grand stand acts. They love the entertainment.”

Darlene said many of the workers are Grangers. The have a Grange dinner stand that is operated by different Granges throughout the county. Fair-goers look forward to the traditional dinners, which are cream chicken, fish and barbeque pork chops.

Darlene is in charge of ticket sales. Her entire committee is made up of Grangers. From the ticket manager to those selling the tickets – everyone is a Granger. Darlene said it is a Grange project and Grangers look forward to it – from the young to the seasoned Grangers. Everyone blends and works well together because it is a longstanding and truly loved project.

“Everyone loves the food and the exhibition hall which features live stock including dairy, sheep, beef and hogs. The demolition derby is a big crowd pleaser as well as the rodeo, which is always a sellout.”

Darlene is proud of the work the area Granges do. “Our fair is the biggest thing in the county,” she said. “We are one of the two smallest counties in the state and have one of the largest fairs in the state!”

Washington State is treated to a fair compliments of Waller Road Grange #1111. The community fair is held near Tacoma, Washington and has been taking place since 1963. The fair is held on the seven acres of Grange land, which includes the hall where they have barbeques dinners. There is a livestock exhibition that includes mini-horses, goats, sheep, rabbits, poultry, swine and even a popular showing of dogs.

“This is our big community project,” said Anna Van Hulle of Waller Road Grange #1111. “We have done this for many, many years. It has been going on since before 1963, but not at this property.

“It is a wonderful way to unite with the community,” she said

The Library of Congress features a very popular fair - The Danbury and Community Fair sponsored by the Blazing Star Grange # 71 in New Hampshire. Granger Linda Wilson works to make it a success each year.

“I do not remember not working at the fair,” Linda said. “Fair is always the first Saturday following Labor Day. My birthday is Sept. 8 and I seem to always be working at the fair on my birthday – ever since I can remember.

The 90-plus year-old fair features many of the fair staples – tractor pulls, fabulous foods, a petting zoo, auctions and vegetable displays and exhibits. There is live entertainment and a very popular baby show that encourages all the area residents to come out and introduce their newest editions to the locals.

“There are several of us who work very hard to make this happen each year,” Linda said. “We are very lucky the towns people jump in and help. It is an all-day long fair that ends with a street dance.”

Across the Nation, there are still many states that do have Grange-sponsored fairs. We were unable to feature them all. Each has something that makes that fair truly unique and an anticipated event by local residents.

“Anytime we have the opportunity to sponsor a fair, or place a booth in a public event, we advertise that our Grange is alive and well,” said William Steele, National Grange Master.

“Whether the event is a one-day craft show, or a ten-day encampment like the Centre County Pomona Grange Fair in Pennsylvania (with tents complete with the kitchen sink), we can “show our stuff.”

“I have a long-running history with such an event. My home Grange, Big Knob, will be sponsoring its 65th annual fair, a five-day event that draws some 35,000 people. I don’t think that I have missed one of them since I joined the Juvenile Grange at the age of eight and worked my first “game” booth.”

Master Steel has a suggestion for those in charge of Grange-sponsored fairs.

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(From left) Katelyn Chamberlain, Helen Galloway, and Gail Chamberlain

For decades, Helen Galloway and her decedents have served as Junior Grange Deputy for the New York State Grange. The three women have managed to keep it “all in the family” since the early 1980s.

The bloodline originally started with Helen Galloway of Grandville, NY when she took the reigns for the position of Junior Grange Deputy back in 1982. Helen has been a Granger since she was 15 year old. That’s when I first joined the Subordinate Grange. I was never a Junior Granger,” she said.

“It was a lot of work,” she said, “but I loved it. My daughter took over for me. I was getting tired. We were going so much – two, three times a year.

But operations on her hip and knees forced 82-yearold Helen to take it slow. She needed time to recover and for a woman always on the go, that was not an easy thing to stop and do.

“We were happy to be in it (the Grange), and happy to leave because of our health. But I still think about it often.

“I was glad to have somebody take over,” she said, “and it was nice that it was my daughter. She was cut out for it.”

From the early 1982 until 2004, Helen was Junior Grange Deputy. Then in 1994, her daughter, Gail Chamberlain, of Whitehall Grange, #922, took over and served her state as Junior Grange Deputy. In addition to her full-time job as a school nurse, Gail performed the responsibilities of the Junior Grange Deputy.

Gail has many fond memories of her time with the Grange. She is a third generation Grange member and shared her Grange memories with her siblings who all belonged to the Grange.

“Both of my parents were Grange members and had four children and we all grew up in the Grange. We are all still Grange members,” she said.

Gail met her husband, Gerald, through the Grange.

“We were both camp counselors. Once we married, we knew we wanted our children to have the same nice memories we had.”

As a family, the Chamberlains continued the tradition. In fact, their oldest daughter also married another Granger. They lived over 150 miles apart from each other when they met. Today, they live in Colorado and still belong to the Grange.

One of the Chamberlains daughters, Katelyn, 20, is in her second year of college at Paul Smith’s College in the Adirondacks. She is majoring in environmental science and is on the Dean’s List. Even with the busy schedule of a college student, Katelyn has been driven to continue in the family tradition and take on the position of Junior Grange Deputy.

“It was nice that are Pomona members were willing to let her try it,” her mother said. “She wanted to do it. She was just appointed this past fall, when I was appointed the State Director; she was appointed the State Junior Director.

For Katelyn, the experience thus far has been a positive one. “I feel like I have grown into this kind of position,” she said. “I watched my grandmother for as long as I can remember do it, and my mother for the last few years. It fell into my lap and I did not want to see our county not have a representative, plus it is a lot of fun.”

Given Katelyn’s studies, there are certain concessions that have been made on her part.

“I make sure I get home for the weekends so I get to the different workshops and keep in contact with the Junior Granges. I miss out on a couple of things they have at school, but I think it is all for the best,” Katelyn said.

Katelyn has a lifelong love for the Grange. Ever since she could remember, it’s been a part of her life.

“The Grange is a very unique organization. It is different from Boy Scouts or Girl Scouts. It is an organization you can be in from age 5 to 95. You don‘t stop being a Grange member. That is something you don’t see in many of the other organizations,” she said.

When asked, Helen Galloway offered up the following advice for her granddaughter as she takes on her new position. Her advice can fit every life situation. “Take things as they come,” her grandmother said. “Don’t fret or worry over things. Get involved and do the best that you. “I’m very proud of granddaughter for continuing on and enjoying what she is doing.”

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From the “we’ve got it, now what” on legislative policy, to the challenge of just getting a few new Grange members in order to have a net gain in a number of states, to questions such as if a child gets molested at a local Grange event, can I get sued too?” and what must I do to protect the State and/or the National Grange? The busy weekend provided those in attendance with numerous workshops and discussions as well as a time to check out the facilities for the 2007 annual convention this coming November. John Ascuaga’s Nugget, billed as Reno’s year-round resort hotel casino is on Interstate 80, just off the runway of the Reno-Tahoe International Airport. It is family-owned and family-operated, and caters to the family crowd. We found that out during our stay there.

John Ascuaga's Nugget is the site of the 141st National Grange Convention

State Masters and their spouses arrived on a Friday afternoon in February. After a time of sharing successes of the past year, they poised questions/problems in a “Dear Bill” session. The National Master promised to come back with suggestions and answers before the conference closed on Sunday morning.

Leroy Watson, Legislative Affairs Director for the National Grange, led two workshops dealing with policy development and implementation. The process, which begins at the local level with the writing of a resolution to address an issue, moves through the system of Subordinate, Pomona, and State Granges, to be addressed at the national level in the annual convention.

Concerns were expressed that we have a thousand policies on issues from animal rights to the US Postal System. How can we keep them relevant, and how can we generate more meaningful resolutions for consideration – resolutions that address the issues of the day as seen from the back porch of the thousands of members that attend our local Grange meetings?

Once a policy is developed, how can it again be made relevant to the local member’s world? Each year, the National Grange Legislative Department selects five to ten issues that are likely to be acted upon by the Congress in Washington D.C. These become the “Blueprint for Rural America.” The challenge for State Grange leaders is to bring these issues to the state level, and then also to the district, county, and local levels.

How often does a Pomona Grange develop a “blueprint for action” in their locale, and use it to influence the County Commissioners, School Directors and others in public office?

Ed Luttrell, Leadership/ Membership Director for the National Grange, presented the membership numbers for the past fifteen or so years. While the decline is still evident on the graph, it is very close to level, and with a little push in just a few Granges in many states, it could begin its upward movement this year in those states! It is a challenge, but it is within our grasp. Ed presented a large number of tools that might be used to spur interest and achievement in membership growth.

Brother Ed also presented a workshop on team building for state leaders. It is vitally important at the state level, in fact in every level of the Grange, to have the right people in the right places in order to succeed. How to make this happen on the state level was of special interest to those attending the conference.

Brenda Lawhorn, a representative of the Hayes Insurance Group, lead the group in a discussion of liability insurance, not only for falls and other incidents that might happen at functions in our Grange halls, but also as it deals with protection of the organization itself in case there is a claim of abuse of a child or youth. The Grange at all levels could be at risk should such an incident occur.

There was considerable discussion at the annual convention about the need to develop a child protection protocol, and each state is in the process of determining the requirements for their own area.

DoriAnn Gedris, Director of Marketing and Sales for the National Grange presented a workshop on programs that have been introduced in the past several years, and asked for direction from the group as to what more might be added in order to boost activity and interest at the local Grange level.

It appears that the Grange has a vital role to play in the education of our friends and neighbors to ensure the viability and presence of agricultural endeavors within our local communities. So many residents of rural America are so far removed from life on the farm that they have no idea of the role played by the many agricultural practices in order to put fresh products on the grocery shelves.

While in Reno, the staff had an opportunity to complete many of the plans for use of the hotel facilities for the 2007 annual convention which opens on November 13. The next edition of The New Grange will carry all of the details related to the convention.

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