News: Clark Co. Fair 150 Year History (2022)

Transcriber: Stan

Surnames: Fannila, Longnecker, Dore, Holverson, Eberhardt, Nelson, Branddeld, Tragsdorf, Zimmerman, Marsh, Hemp, Eisentraut, Huckstead, Ranta

----Source: TRG (Abbotsford, Clark Co., Wis.) 03 Aug 2022

“If the weather man will do his share this year, Neillsville will have one of the best fairs ever held in this county. The officers have done their level best to make it a success and now it’s up to the weather to do the rest. For the majority of Clark County’s citizens propose to take a day off and go to the fair. They believe in the old saying “Enjoy yourself while you live, for you will be a long time dead.” We will meet you there.”

The above excerpt was taken from the Aug. 29, 1913 issue of the Granton News, the article making reference to the upcoming Clark County Fair that was to be held from Sept. 2-5 that year. In all the 150 years of its run, there has been some variation of the above message to residents about the Clark County Fair in weekly publications in the county; inviting them to come out to see the exhibits, unusual wonders and attractions brought into the county and asking them to pit themselves against other citizens in various agricultural competitions.

It is from these various publications that the overarching history of the 147 Clark County Fairs held over the last 150 years is told. Information from the different years of the fair’s existence were pulled from the Clark County Fair Centennial book published in 1972, the Clark County History Buffs website and old issues of the TRG, Loyal Tribune, The Clark County Press, The Granton News and the Clark County Republican.

While the Clark County Fair got its start in 1872, the first fair was actually held a year later in 1873. The first year of the fair’s founding was spent purchasing and preparing the 40-acre grounds southeast of the then village of Neillsville -- population 300 -- to hold the event and forming the Clark County Agricultural Society, which was responsible for promoting both agriculture and the growing Clark County.

According to the Clark County Fair Centennial book: “On March 15, 1872, Clark County’s first cooperative was organized to operate a county fair. Under the leadership of John S. Dore, the Clark County Agricultural Society was formed to establish a county fairgrounds and an annual fair. The purpose, as stated by Mr. Dore in 1872, was ‘to improve and develop the agriculture program and to present a county fair which will be the show window of our County.’” The 40-acre plot that later became the Clark County Fairgrounds was purchased for $1,200 in 1872. That whole first year and part of the next were spent clearing the land of its virgin timber, digging its first well, constructing a dirt racetrack and building its first exhibit building and bleachers on the east side of the track. While that work was going on, the Clark County Agricultural Society was organized, with the first officers being named and other representatives chosen from every township in Clark County that existed at the time: Pine Valley, Levis, Weston, Lynn, Loyal, Mentor and Grant, with the townships of York, Hixton and Sherman being added in 1873 after they were established.

Once all was ready, the inaugural Clark County Fair was originally scheduled to be held from Oct. 2 to Oct. 4 of 1873, but Mother Nature insisted the event be postponed two weeks by sending rain. The Clark County Republican reported that the first fair was held from Oct. 14-16 that year and included exhibits and awards for horses, cattle, sheep, poultry, grain, vegetables, household products, fruits, flowers, fine arts, machinery and manufactures. The cost to enter the fair was 25 cents per day -- $1 for the entire show -- with children under the age of 10 coming in for free. A total of 380 entries participated in the first Clark County Fair and the event brought in $460.

Fair prizes The Clark County Fair continued to grow over the next decades -- moving its weekday dates to September of every year -- but due to poor record keeping and the fragility of old newspapers, not much is known about these earliest fairs. It is not until the turn of the century that record keeping gets better and provides a better insight to the activities of the day. Prices to attend the fair jumped up to 35 cents per day starting in the year 1900 and slowly crawled up from there in the intervening decades.

At the same time, local businesses began to take part in the Clark County Fair, seeing an easy opportunity to promote their growing businesses. Advertisements for the Clark County Fair at the start of the 20th century listed special premiums donated by these local businesses to be given as prizes for winners of contests at the fair. During the next 20 or so years, attendees could win anything from furniture to foodstuffs at the Clark County Fair. In the 1910 Clark County Press for example, several items were listed to be given away that year.

“Special Premiums at the Fair are donated by the merchants,” read the article. “A.B. Holverson will give a pair of 6.25 leather fly nets for the best farm team. A.B Marsh the flour and feed man, offers one barrel of Gold Medal flour for the best two loaves of bread made from Gold Medal flour. H.H. Eberhardt offers one nice easy chair or rocker to the oldest gentleman or lady attending the fair. Matt Marx, one whip for best driving team. T.E. Branddeld, $1 Jardiniere for best display of flowers. P.N. Nelson, one dozen star cut tumblers for young lady under 15 years making best doughnuts. Tragsdorf, Zimmerman and Co. one plush Morris Chair for family purchasing the largest number of admission tickets to the fair. W.J. Marsh Dry Goods Co. $1.50 silk umbrella for young lady under 16 making best loaf of bread. Neillsville Tea and Coffee Store, 50 cents worth of spices to young lady making best spice cake. F.P. Hemp: Fine berry set for prettiest baby brought to the fair.”

Attractions and events: Besides special prizes to bring in visitors, a special effort was made in the early 1900s to have unusual attractions present at the fair each year. In 1910, a carnival and circus was brought to the fair and the first ‘aeroplane’ was to take flight at the event. “Fair week starts Aug. 29 and promises to be the largest ever!” stated an article found in the Clark County Press. “The carnival, traveling in its own train, will have with it 300 people, 19 shows, three big free acts including a high dive. There will be an 18-piece carnival band, the Greenwood Band and two Neillsville bands providing endless music ... The secretary of the fair has been fortunate enough to secure an aeroplane as a free attraction to the fair and this act will be seen every day of the fair and daily flights made, weather permitting. This will be the first time that a modern flying machine will be seen in this section of the state.”

That first plane never did make it off the ground, but by 1912, aviators got the hang of getting their flying machines in the air. The Granton News reported that the National Aviators of Chicago were responsible for flying fair-goers twice daily every day of the fair. The circus and its high wire acts and gymnastics were also popular, making their return on the midway as well.

Horse racing was another event that was very popular at the start of the 20th century, and the event was a mainstay of the Clark County Fair until the 1930s when automobiles began to replace horses as the common means of transportation. The event was so popular in its heyday -- with the added incentive of enticing prizes for winners -- that in 1912 it became necessary to ban professional horses and drivers from competing in events.

Other restrictions on non-residents began to follow in the years afterwards, but after the concept of special premiums died off in the 1920s, the Clark County Fair began to once again look outside its borders to bring in more people. Baseball -- a part of the fair’s events since the turn of the century -- now became one of the main features of the event. Teams were brought in from the neighboring counties to compete against Clark County’s finest players and an African American team from Piney Woods, Miss., was also brought in as a special feature of these games.

The onset of World War II drastically changed the fabric of the sort of events found at the Clark County Fair. In the time from 1941 to 1946, the fair saw baseball fade in and out of fashion, and war rationing limited much of the fair to the bare minimum. It became common in those years for the fair to also be a place of collection drives and recruitment for young soldiers.

“Being streamlined to aid the war effort it will also furnish an opportunity for everyone to appreciate the fact that ‘America is a land of opportunity’ that ‘America is worth fighting for’ and that ‘America is a land where each resident may enjoy equal rights and equal privileges.’” stated a 1943 Loyal Tribune article. “The need for the purchasing of bonds and stamps, the need for salvaging metals and materials, the need for our fair system of rationing, the need for conservation of food and clothing will be brought home to each person who attends this county fair. The exhibits and displays will remind each of us that ‘Food Will Win the War.’” The end of World War II brought with it the end to many of the events and attractions that had been a part of the Clark County Fair since the turn of the century. The war had brought with it many advancements in technology and a great change to the way many people lived. More focus was put on the agricultural portions of the fair during the 1950s and 1960s as people adapted to the new things that had been developed during the war, and once and for all, the horse was replaced by the automobile for the people’s entertainment.

Since the 1970s, automobiles have been the main attraction for fair-goers year after year. Dirt track racing and tractor pulls were common in the 1980s and 1990s especially, but have since been replaced by demolition derbies, which have continued to be present at the annual event.

Animal activities: Since its start in 1872, the purpose of the Clark County Fair has been to promote and celebrate agriculture in the county. While cultural shifts have largely determined many of the attractions and events that have been seen at the fair since its start, the one thing that has remained mostly unchanged since the beginning has been the fair’s agricultural contests.

In the fair’s earliest days, the contests were held mostly between farmers for awards at the Clark County Fair. By the 1920s, the contest had expanded to include teenagers and young children from newly formed 4-H clubs and other organizations. These clubs have had various stages of popularity among the area youth, and the clubs have grown or disappeared over the years due to these changes.

There have also been some special events held over the years to celebrate the achievements of the young exhibitors. Beginning sometime in the 1930s and running until 1958, a parade was a part of every Clark County Fair. At the end of the judging contests, anyone earning ribbons were invited to walk their animals around the fairgrounds to show off their awards and the animal that helped them earn it. As part of this, most of the 4-H clubs of the county would also construct a float that their organization would have in the parade with their young exhibitors. This practice ended in 1958 after organizers changed the program of events.

No matter what organization a kid was a part of, their work in showing animals at the Clark County Fair prompted growth on the fairgrounds. The expanse of buildings needed for all the exhibits by 1921 led to the purchase of an additional 15 acres of land on the western side of the grounds, bringing the fairgrounds up to the size it is today. Over the years, numerous buildings have been built, relocated or torn down to best meet the needs of the exhibitors of the times, the latest of which was the livestock barn that was built and first used last year.

Oddities With 150 years of history, there are bound to be some very unusual events that would occur that have not yet been included in this history list. Some of these events that have been noted are: -- The grandstand at the Clark County Fairgrounds was originally built on the eastern side of the former racetrack, standing on the opposite side of where it is today. A windstorm severely damaged that grandstand in 1927 just a few weeks before that year’s fair and while repairmen cobbled it back together to make it through the year, by the next year they had built a new one on the west side. The move was made to make it easier for visitors to watch the afternoon horse races, which had been difficult to watch due to the sun.

-- A public wedding between Theodore Jensen and Martha Fannila of Longwood was held during the 1931 fair. It was reported that about 2,000 people were in the crowd at the wedding, but no one knew who was getting married until the ceremony was well underway. They were married by Rev. George W. Longnecker of the Congressional Church in Neillsville. -- The Clark County Fairgrounds was sold to the Clark County Board by the Clark County Fair Association in 1936 for $1.00. As part of the agreement, the county assumed all the debt on the site and the Fair Board was to lease the grounds from the county for $1.00 per year after that. -- There were no chickens at the Clark County Fair in 1946. They were banned from the show due to an epidemic of Newcastle disease that affected poultry that year. -- In 1949 the Clark County Fair was cancelled for the first time due to a polio epidemic. According to the July 28, 1949 Tribune, “The executive officers of the Clark County Fair, Alvin Eisentraut, president and Harold Huckstead, secretary, announced this week that the fair will be suspended for the year 1949. Their statement follows, in part: ‘The directors of the fair have concluded that the only safe and wise course this summer is to call the fair off for Aug. 19 to 22. This is the first time in 77 years that such a course has been considered necessary.

This action is not due to the acute continuance of polio ... it is quite possible the disease is on the way out ... it is impossible however for the directors to await further developments. We must either advertise the fair largely ... or we must cancel everything now to prevent possible substantial loss. Faced with the necessity of immediate decision as between these alternatives, our only choice is to call the fair off now, whatever the future may hold.’” -- The Clark County Fairest of the Fair competition was started in 1968. The first crowned queen was Vicki Ann Mech from Greenwood.

-- The Clark County Centennial Fair was held in 1972 from July 31 - Aug. 6, the only time in its history that the fair was held for an entire week. As part of the event, souvenir shingles branded with ‘Clark County Fair, 1872-1972’ made by Tauno Ranta of Owen were distributed.

-- In 2020, the Clark County Fair was cancelled for the second time in its history due to the COVID-19 pandemic.