Peasley: McHenry County Fair to celebrate 60th
Sixty years. That’s the milestone for this year’s McHenry County Fair, scheduled for Aug. 5-9, which was revived as a 4-H junior show in 1949. That fair was July 29-31, 1949.
In 1950, a fourth day was added to accommodate growing interest in Future Farmers of America and 4-H club projects.
The opportunity for a county fair began when Bill Tammeus, extension adviser, in 1945 recruited A.B. McConnell to become a 4-H club leader. McConnell, a farmer and member of the McHenry County Board, noted that the lease for the former fairgrounds (present site near Jewel in Woodstock) came up for renewal in 1945.
After McConnell’s motion in 1946, the County Board approved leasing the property to 4-H. 4-H Town was established so that adults could negotiate a 99-year lease on behalf of 4-H members.
In 1948, several people met at Elwood Howell’s Woodstock Community High School vocational agriculture classroom to consider a county fair. Participants included Jacob Heisler, chamber president; Dick Bauder, chamber manager; Harold Beth, active chamber member and prominent banker; and Tammeus. Tammeus and Bauder made key contacts with state officials to determine county fair funding from state sources.
The McHenry County Fair developed because of the cooperation of the Woodstock Chamber of Commerce, McHenry County Farm Bureau and University of Illinois Extension Service.
At that 1949 fair, 321 4-H members from 17 clubs compared and competed the first two days. FFA members from Boone, Lake, Cook and McHenry counties had their competition July 31, the first day of that fair. Local talent entertained two evenings.
One of the 12 tents featured local auto dealers displaying their vehicles, which attracted interest with new models being introduced after World War II.
A nonprofessional horse show with entries in 12 classes proved successful. Jack Hayes, who still lives in Woodstock, was an active board member for decades. He was a prominent horseman.
A horse-pulling competition and the first Miss McHenry County Pageant provided grandstand attractions in 1949.
Marilyn Thomsen Moore, Woodstock entry, was chosen fair queen and lives today in Florida. In the Woodstock Journal that July, I reported on her crowning, observing, “The 17-year-old displayed a world of personality and poise to enhance her natural beauty.” You can tell I have had an eye for keen observation from an early age.
A large number of volunteers assured the fair’s success.
I enjoy remembering so many who made the fair successful. Perhaps no one worked more diligently and continually than Tammeus. He did not tell how things should be done. He led in doing the work and urging others to “follow me.”
• Don Peasley has been editor, columnist and historian in McHenry County since October 1947. He began his association with Shaw Publications in 1950. He is a frequent contributor of articles and photographs. He can be reached at 815-338-1533.