the fair board
The Union County Fairgrounds house the annual Union County Fair, as well as many weddings, graduations, and livestock shows, just to name a few. Our exceptional Fair Board manages all the happenings of the Union County Fairgrounds. Click the button below to read about the board that truly does it all!
History of the Union County Fairgrounds
Wayne Crittenden, one of the men responsible for bringing the fair from Lorimor to Afton, wrote a short story of the history of the Union County Fair from his perspective. We've included it below.
"The Beginning of the Union County Fair As I Remember"
by Wayne Crittenden
July 1977
In 1924, Lorimor Took over the fair from Creston and called it "The Little World Fair." Lorimor had worked hard and it had a good fair for the kids of Union County from 1924 until 1952. The word was out that Lorimor was going to give up their fair. Then Creston decided they wanted it back again, but Lorimor wanted it more in the center of the county. Lorimor said if Afton would call it the Union County Fair they would give it up. At that time, Dick Thuma was the County Extensio Director and Sue Freemeyer was the Home Economist. I had been a 4-H leader in Pleasant and Union Twp. since Gerald and Bill started in 4-H, about 1946 or 1947.We would go to Lorimor each fall, tie our calves under the shade trees and show them in an outside arena, then lead them over to the stock yards east of the tracks to weigh them. When Clarke County and Ringgold County were starting their county fairs, the fair board thought we could surely start a county fair in Union County.
In 1953, the Union County Fair was started with very little money, but with a lot of county workers to help. The main thing the fair board wanted as a better place for the 4-H boys and girls to show their exhibits.
At the board meeting in the spring of 1953, Don Porter, President of the Fair Board, said, "If we are going to have a county fair we better get started planning." There were 14 or 15 fair board members, so we voted to see if we all wanted a Union County Fair in Afton. After several votes were taken and much discussion, it was decided to start a Union County Fair in Afton. If we were going to have a Union County Fair, we had to have the support from every town and township in the county.
President Porter asked me and Ferol Rayl to see if the Afton Mayer and business men would support a county fair in Afton. Their reply was, "We will do anything we can to help a county fair in Afton, but we don't want Lorimor to think we are taking their fair away from them." President Porter, Dick Thuma, and Sue Freemeyer and other board members held meetings in the Afton VFW Building and the county wide meeting was held at the Afton High School gym. Purpose of the meetings were informative, but mainly to raise money. The Afton gym was full of Union County residents and 4-H kids. The goal of the fair board was to raise $8,000, which was raised in less than three weeks. Alf Conn was the Afton City cop and he told me he thought Mrs. Weldie would sell her land at the east edge of Afton and thought it would be a good site for a fair ground. I went to see her and she said, "Yes, it is for sale." She said what she wanted for it. I asked her if she would hold it for two weeks until after the fair board met and she said she would. There was sewer and water just across the road at the southwest corner. At the next board meeting I told them what I found and that I thought it would be a good site for the fair ground. Most of the fair board knew where it was.
President Porter asked me and Ferol Rayl to buy it. We closed the deal and we had ten acres of land with an old hog house, an old well, one mulberry tree, and very poor fences. Later on a property in the SE corner of the fair ground belonging to the George Needham Estate was purchased. There was an old house and two or three small buildings and about 1/2 acre of land. There were three nice maple threes that still stand.
Dozers and machinery were brought in to reshape the land as it is today. Those donating equipment were McCall's from Lorimor, Russell Cheers, and Maurice Butts. Farm Service furnished the fuel for the equiment. Clarence Welcher worked for the City of Afton and he brought down the maintainer about twice a day and leveld the dirt. While they were doing the dirt work the fair board and a lot of volunteers tore out the old fence and put in new woven wire and three barbs.
After the dirt work was all done and the fences were in, it was time to start building the pole barns. The fair board was going to use the same barn plans as Cass County. The fair board secretary sent the plans to all the lumber yards in the county. Spahn & Rose Lumber Yard in Afton had the low bid, so Raymond Doty, manager of the lumber yard, ordered material so construction could get started right away.
We needed to hire a carpenter that could ramrod a bunch of volunteer workers. I told them Bill Montgomery would be a good man if we could get him. So President Porter asked Ferol Rayl and I if we would talk to him. Bill Montgomery said he had a job that would take about two weeks then he would be ready to start. By that time, Spahn & Rose Lumber Yard had all the material and we were ready to start building.
Someone close to Afton with a tractor and digger dug the holes. The poles were all in and set the first day and the building was started. We called for volunteers and had lots of good help from all over the county. It took quite a while to put the wood shingles on. Bill Montgomery, his brother, Bob, and R.C. Myers were the carpenters.
While the tractor and digger was here, the holes for the second barn were dug. The barns were 100 feet long and 28 feet wide, thirty feet apart.
Besides the two new barns they were going to have three tents for the first fair. They decided to cement the floor in the north barn for the 4-H girls with their clothing and for the women's open class exhibits. Bill Montgomery had a cement mixer and R.C. Myers mixed the cement while there were three or four wheelbarrows running all day hauling cement. Bill and his brother, Bob, leveled it off and finished it! That was one of the hardest days work. With that, the two barns were finished.
Next it was the eating shack, where to build, and who would run it. The present location was decided upon. John Kaster and his wife, June, and Louie Kessler and his wife, Velva, said they would run the eating shack, order the food, keep the books and get volunteer help from each township. They worked hard and long hours. The eating shack has enlarged two or three times since the original building. (note: the original building has since been replaced)
ISU came in with the big poles for the rodeo and show arena and set them. Ed Thompson, the city electrician, started wiring the barns, lunch shack, and arena. The City of Afton did not charge for the labor. They didn't have a bucket truck then and Ed had to use spikes to climb the poles. The water lines run along the east end of the barns and a hydrant at each barn then down to the wash rack.
The City of Afton sent their maintainer and men down to build the roads and driveways, at no charge. By this time, the fence was in around the rodeo arena, the lights were up, portable seating had been built, the rodeo chutes were all completed, rock was put on the roads and driveways, two barns had been built and the snack shack completed.
The board thought they were about ready to start the fair. There was much discussion as to what they were going to charge. The 4-H kids that had exhibits would get in free, one free night for the County Home residents. Then someone thought the fair board should get in free because of all the free work they had done but it was decided against that because there were a lot of people who had done as much as some on the fair board. It was decided to charge everyone, including the fair board, 25 cents at the outside gate plus 25 cents for a vehicle.
We were wondering how we were going to keep people from watching the horse show or rodeo without paying because, at that time, there wasn't a board fence so we took the sides of the tents and hung them on a No. 9 wire on the west and south side of the arena. Later a board fence was built along the west and south side of the arena and painted white. Then advertising was sold for so much a foot - it didn't take long to pay for the board fence. That was much better than the old tent sides.
Opening night of the fair was supposed to start with the horse show but a heavy rain in the afternoon caused it to be canceled until the next night, Sunday night. We had lots of good horses from Iowa and Missouri.
From the Creston News Advertiser: "At the annual Union County Fair Board Association meeting, Wednesday night, five directors were elected on the board. Don Porter, Paul Francis, Wm. Nixon, Carl Eklund, and Al Zmolek. Hold over members whose terms did not expire were Robert Hammans, John Grandfield, John Means, Wilbur Miller, Rudy Weisshaar, Ferol Rayl, John Werner, Dale Erickson, Wayne Crittenden, and Alton Decker. At the orginizational meeting following the association meeting, Wayne Crittenden was elected to succeed Don Porter as President of the board. Porter was elected Vice-President; Wilbur Miller, Treasurer, and John Lininger, Secretary. Tentative dates for the 1954 Union County Fair are set for August 12 - 13 - 14. The Secretary and Lewis Means were named to attend the State Meeting of Fair Directors in Des Moines the first of next week. The financial report for 1953 shows a balance of $902.36 as of November 1953. Total receipts for the 1953 fair was $1048.05."
The Afton Centennial was also in 1954. As usual, at Centennials most of the men grew beards and wore their stove pipe hats, long tailed coats, and carried canes. They were a woolly looking bunch! The ladies wore their long dresses, bonnets, and old shoes. Kenneth Seely asked if they could put a barbeque pit at the fairground to serve dinner. This was probably one of the largest crowds ever in Afton and the most people that ever went through the gates at the fairgrounds. The Centennial crowd left shortly after dinner and continued their celebration in the Afton Park while the fair continued with their activities.
The first and second year of the fair, the 4-H kids had to take their livestock to the lumberyard to weigh. Some were lead up but most were hauled in pickups because they didn't have stock trailers then. The scales were installed at the fairgrounds in 1954 or 1955. They were very expensive because they had to meet state inspection guidelines.
We had one bad night I'll never forget when a bad storm went through Afton and blew tents down and caused damage to them. It was late evening and most everyone had gone home. Rudy Weisshaar and I were the only board members left there. Louie Kessler was cleaning up the snack shack and had his radio turned to KMA, Shenandoah station. They were having a bad storm, strong wind, heavy rain, and lightning and it was headed northeast. It wasn't long until it was at Afton. Our big night watchman, Joe Knat, had just come on duty about the time it hit. One tent blew down that had chicken, rabbits, ducks, hamsters, and guineas in. They were scattered everywhere. We were trying to catch them but the only time we could see was when it would lightening. We called for help and had lots of kids and parents trying to round up their exhibits. When it was all over everyone was soaking wet. My wife, Lois, went home and got dry clothes for me because there were four or five of us that were going to stay all night. I remember we slept in one of the barns that John McElroy's hogs were in. We didn't get much sleep because his old sows were snoring. The next day we got the tents back up and things got back to normal.
It was our hope as the original directors retired that the younger ones would continue to make the Union County Fair bigger and better. Thanks to lots of hard work and dedicated people, it has grown to be one of the better fairs in Southwest Iowa.
This is as I remember the Union County Fair.
by Wayne Crittenden
July 1977
In 1924, Lorimor Took over the fair from Creston and called it "The Little World Fair." Lorimor had worked hard and it had a good fair for the kids of Union County from 1924 until 1952. The word was out that Lorimor was going to give up their fair. Then Creston decided they wanted it back again, but Lorimor wanted it more in the center of the county. Lorimor said if Afton would call it the Union County Fair they would give it up. At that time, Dick Thuma was the County Extensio Director and Sue Freemeyer was the Home Economist. I had been a 4-H leader in Pleasant and Union Twp. since Gerald and Bill started in 4-H, about 1946 or 1947.We would go to Lorimor each fall, tie our calves under the shade trees and show them in an outside arena, then lead them over to the stock yards east of the tracks to weigh them. When Clarke County and Ringgold County were starting their county fairs, the fair board thought we could surely start a county fair in Union County.
In 1953, the Union County Fair was started with very little money, but with a lot of county workers to help. The main thing the fair board wanted as a better place for the 4-H boys and girls to show their exhibits.
At the board meeting in the spring of 1953, Don Porter, President of the Fair Board, said, "If we are going to have a county fair we better get started planning." There were 14 or 15 fair board members, so we voted to see if we all wanted a Union County Fair in Afton. After several votes were taken and much discussion, it was decided to start a Union County Fair in Afton. If we were going to have a Union County Fair, we had to have the support from every town and township in the county.
President Porter asked me and Ferol Rayl to see if the Afton Mayer and business men would support a county fair in Afton. Their reply was, "We will do anything we can to help a county fair in Afton, but we don't want Lorimor to think we are taking their fair away from them." President Porter, Dick Thuma, and Sue Freemeyer and other board members held meetings in the Afton VFW Building and the county wide meeting was held at the Afton High School gym. Purpose of the meetings were informative, but mainly to raise money. The Afton gym was full of Union County residents and 4-H kids. The goal of the fair board was to raise $8,000, which was raised in less than three weeks. Alf Conn was the Afton City cop and he told me he thought Mrs. Weldie would sell her land at the east edge of Afton and thought it would be a good site for a fair ground. I went to see her and she said, "Yes, it is for sale." She said what she wanted for it. I asked her if she would hold it for two weeks until after the fair board met and she said she would. There was sewer and water just across the road at the southwest corner. At the next board meeting I told them what I found and that I thought it would be a good site for the fair ground. Most of the fair board knew where it was.
President Porter asked me and Ferol Rayl to buy it. We closed the deal and we had ten acres of land with an old hog house, an old well, one mulberry tree, and very poor fences. Later on a property in the SE corner of the fair ground belonging to the George Needham Estate was purchased. There was an old house and two or three small buildings and about 1/2 acre of land. There were three nice maple threes that still stand.
Dozers and machinery were brought in to reshape the land as it is today. Those donating equipment were McCall's from Lorimor, Russell Cheers, and Maurice Butts. Farm Service furnished the fuel for the equiment. Clarence Welcher worked for the City of Afton and he brought down the maintainer about twice a day and leveld the dirt. While they were doing the dirt work the fair board and a lot of volunteers tore out the old fence and put in new woven wire and three barbs.
After the dirt work was all done and the fences were in, it was time to start building the pole barns. The fair board was going to use the same barn plans as Cass County. The fair board secretary sent the plans to all the lumber yards in the county. Spahn & Rose Lumber Yard in Afton had the low bid, so Raymond Doty, manager of the lumber yard, ordered material so construction could get started right away.
We needed to hire a carpenter that could ramrod a bunch of volunteer workers. I told them Bill Montgomery would be a good man if we could get him. So President Porter asked Ferol Rayl and I if we would talk to him. Bill Montgomery said he had a job that would take about two weeks then he would be ready to start. By that time, Spahn & Rose Lumber Yard had all the material and we were ready to start building.
Someone close to Afton with a tractor and digger dug the holes. The poles were all in and set the first day and the building was started. We called for volunteers and had lots of good help from all over the county. It took quite a while to put the wood shingles on. Bill Montgomery, his brother, Bob, and R.C. Myers were the carpenters.
While the tractor and digger was here, the holes for the second barn were dug. The barns were 100 feet long and 28 feet wide, thirty feet apart.
Besides the two new barns they were going to have three tents for the first fair. They decided to cement the floor in the north barn for the 4-H girls with their clothing and for the women's open class exhibits. Bill Montgomery had a cement mixer and R.C. Myers mixed the cement while there were three or four wheelbarrows running all day hauling cement. Bill and his brother, Bob, leveled it off and finished it! That was one of the hardest days work. With that, the two barns were finished.
Next it was the eating shack, where to build, and who would run it. The present location was decided upon. John Kaster and his wife, June, and Louie Kessler and his wife, Velva, said they would run the eating shack, order the food, keep the books and get volunteer help from each township. They worked hard and long hours. The eating shack has enlarged two or three times since the original building. (note: the original building has since been replaced)
ISU came in with the big poles for the rodeo and show arena and set them. Ed Thompson, the city electrician, started wiring the barns, lunch shack, and arena. The City of Afton did not charge for the labor. They didn't have a bucket truck then and Ed had to use spikes to climb the poles. The water lines run along the east end of the barns and a hydrant at each barn then down to the wash rack.
The City of Afton sent their maintainer and men down to build the roads and driveways, at no charge. By this time, the fence was in around the rodeo arena, the lights were up, portable seating had been built, the rodeo chutes were all completed, rock was put on the roads and driveways, two barns had been built and the snack shack completed.
The board thought they were about ready to start the fair. There was much discussion as to what they were going to charge. The 4-H kids that had exhibits would get in free, one free night for the County Home residents. Then someone thought the fair board should get in free because of all the free work they had done but it was decided against that because there were a lot of people who had done as much as some on the fair board. It was decided to charge everyone, including the fair board, 25 cents at the outside gate plus 25 cents for a vehicle.
We were wondering how we were going to keep people from watching the horse show or rodeo without paying because, at that time, there wasn't a board fence so we took the sides of the tents and hung them on a No. 9 wire on the west and south side of the arena. Later a board fence was built along the west and south side of the arena and painted white. Then advertising was sold for so much a foot - it didn't take long to pay for the board fence. That was much better than the old tent sides.
Opening night of the fair was supposed to start with the horse show but a heavy rain in the afternoon caused it to be canceled until the next night, Sunday night. We had lots of good horses from Iowa and Missouri.
From the Creston News Advertiser: "At the annual Union County Fair Board Association meeting, Wednesday night, five directors were elected on the board. Don Porter, Paul Francis, Wm. Nixon, Carl Eklund, and Al Zmolek. Hold over members whose terms did not expire were Robert Hammans, John Grandfield, John Means, Wilbur Miller, Rudy Weisshaar, Ferol Rayl, John Werner, Dale Erickson, Wayne Crittenden, and Alton Decker. At the orginizational meeting following the association meeting, Wayne Crittenden was elected to succeed Don Porter as President of the board. Porter was elected Vice-President; Wilbur Miller, Treasurer, and John Lininger, Secretary. Tentative dates for the 1954 Union County Fair are set for August 12 - 13 - 14. The Secretary and Lewis Means were named to attend the State Meeting of Fair Directors in Des Moines the first of next week. The financial report for 1953 shows a balance of $902.36 as of November 1953. Total receipts for the 1953 fair was $1048.05."
The Afton Centennial was also in 1954. As usual, at Centennials most of the men grew beards and wore their stove pipe hats, long tailed coats, and carried canes. They were a woolly looking bunch! The ladies wore their long dresses, bonnets, and old shoes. Kenneth Seely asked if they could put a barbeque pit at the fairground to serve dinner. This was probably one of the largest crowds ever in Afton and the most people that ever went through the gates at the fairgrounds. The Centennial crowd left shortly after dinner and continued their celebration in the Afton Park while the fair continued with their activities.
The first and second year of the fair, the 4-H kids had to take their livestock to the lumberyard to weigh. Some were lead up but most were hauled in pickups because they didn't have stock trailers then. The scales were installed at the fairgrounds in 1954 or 1955. They were very expensive because they had to meet state inspection guidelines.
We had one bad night I'll never forget when a bad storm went through Afton and blew tents down and caused damage to them. It was late evening and most everyone had gone home. Rudy Weisshaar and I were the only board members left there. Louie Kessler was cleaning up the snack shack and had his radio turned to KMA, Shenandoah station. They were having a bad storm, strong wind, heavy rain, and lightning and it was headed northeast. It wasn't long until it was at Afton. Our big night watchman, Joe Knat, had just come on duty about the time it hit. One tent blew down that had chicken, rabbits, ducks, hamsters, and guineas in. They were scattered everywhere. We were trying to catch them but the only time we could see was when it would lightening. We called for help and had lots of kids and parents trying to round up their exhibits. When it was all over everyone was soaking wet. My wife, Lois, went home and got dry clothes for me because there were four or five of us that were going to stay all night. I remember we slept in one of the barns that John McElroy's hogs were in. We didn't get much sleep because his old sows were snoring. The next day we got the tents back up and things got back to normal.
It was our hope as the original directors retired that the younger ones would continue to make the Union County Fair bigger and better. Thanks to lots of hard work and dedicated people, it has grown to be one of the better fairs in Southwest Iowa.
This is as I remember the Union County Fair.