2008 WINONA COUNTY FAIR
"Celebrating 150 Years In 2008"
WINONA COUNTY FAIR HISTORY
By Cynthia M. Timm
Fair Board President
2008
For the people of the St. Charles area and all of Winona County, the Winona County Fair is truly some of the best days of the summer.
During this time the fairgrounds located on the west edge of St. Charles, MN is awash with many sites, sounds, smells and colors-- from the 4-Her with the prize ribbon in hand to the motion of a carnival ride- all are part of this wonderful event. Currently about 40,000 plus people attend this annual gathering each year.
July 9 to 13, 2008 marks the 150th anniversary of the Winona
County Fair. Many special events have been planned to celebrate the
occasion. Farms, families, cities, townships, churches and other
entities with a 150 year history in Winona County will be honored at the
fair recognition program on July 10.
Winona County Fairgrounds, St. Charles, MN August 24, 1910, Photo courtesy of Sharon Vreeman
The first Winona County Fair debuted on October 28 & 29, 1858 at the present site of the Westfield Golf Course in Winona, MN. During that event prizes were awarded for the best work oxen, bob sleigh, handmade work boots and sugar mill. The editor of Winona’s daily newspaper also noted that the 1858 event had fine farm animals, barnyard fowls and wheat and corn specimens that “no portion of the country can surpass in quality”.
In an interesting historical note, the Winona County Fair was host to a wedding on August 27, 1889. An estimated 5,000 onlookers witnessed the vows between D.T. Hicks of St. Charles and Roanna Stinson of Winona.
Fair officials sponsored the public wedding that newspapers accounts dubbed as a well thought out advertising campaign. The names of the couple were kept secret until fair time, and posters for the 1889 fair announced that a young couple were to be “married in public as a special fair event”.
History shows that from about 1900 until 1917 there were always two fairs competing for the attention of county residents. For that period of years, downtown Winona also hosted events that ranged in name from the Winona Fair and Interstate Exposition, the Winona Street Fair and the Tri-County Fair. The Tri-County Fair was the last of such events, and ran from 1910 until 1917 when it was disbanded. That event was an association of Winona and Buffalo and Trempealeau Counties in Wisconsin.
One account of the reason for multiple fairs during the early 1900’s came during a presentation by Fair Board President Warren Magnuson back in 1963. In a newspaper article Magnuson is quoted using the word “bickering” when describing friction among fair board members back in 1910 causing the fair association split.
1910 Winona County Fair, Horticulture Exhibit Building, Exhibit Superintendents (wearing ribbons), Parents of a Merrill Holland, Photo courtesy of Winona County Historical Society
As
a result of this split the Westfield Golf Course fair was moved to St.
Charles in 1910 to land owned by Fred J. Small. The November 19, 1955
issue of the Winona Daily News reported a lease agreement with Small
back in 1910, and in 1961 the Winona County Agricultural and Industrial
Association officially purchased that 40 acre tract of land from Small’s
family.
At the first fair in St. Charles the second week of September in 1910, the governor of Minnesota addressed the crowds. Other events included horse races, an automobile parade and a daily balloon ascensions.
From 1918 to the present, the St. Charles location has been the only county fair in Winona County. In the years between 1910 and 1917, the fair in St. Charles prospered, while Winona newspapers reported that the Tri-County Fair in Winona “declined in prosperity”.
Back in 1910, it is assumed that fair buildings from Winona were moved to St. Charles via the railroad. The Winona County Fair Office building used during the 2006 fair, and the Methodist Dining Hall, were the last remaining structures on the grounds that came to St. Charles by train.
During 2007 these buildings were taken down due to safety issues, and a new fair office was constructed and used during the 2007 fair.
In 1961 the current 4-H Building was constructed, and over the past quarter century the fairgrounds has seen many other improvements. Those include a new grandstand, exhibit and commercial buildings, horse arena, livestock barns and a livestock judging arena.
Just prior to the 2005 fair, the Winona County Fair Board was able to coordinate a project that brought paved roads from the fair entrance to buildings and attractions all through the fairgrounds. 2005 was the year the Winona County Fair was truly accessible to everyone, including the elderly and those with disabilities. The new fair office and the paved roads were a dream coming to reality by the generous financial support from the Winona County Board of Commissioners.
The Winona County Fair is an educational event that not only showcases competitive events, but is a historic link to the past generations of Winona County. At the county fair the rural and urban populations have a chance to meet and connect.
The Winona County Fair is especially proud to be a family event that provides youth activities and youth development through the 4-H program and open class exhibit opportunities. The fair is one of the largest learning laboratories around for youth, and 4-Her’s must exhibit at a county fair in order to participate at the Minnesota State Fair.
During the month of July, the fairgrounds is a busy place for several weeks with preparations and actual fair events, but this is a facility that is used at other times of the year. A sample of these activities through the years include:
· Auction Sales · Wedding Receptions · Dog Obedience Training facility for 4-H and Community Education · State Cattle Auctions · Classic Car Show · Camp Winnebago Trail Ride campsite · Twin Valley Van Club campsite · Camper weekends · Appreciation suppers · Little Red School House tours for local school districts · Winter storage facility from October 1 to May 1 · Picnics · Dances · Youth Cattle Shows · Garage Sales · County Emergency site · Sheriff’s department training site · Training events at horse arena · School district and park & recreation activities · Stock car races · Camping with electrical hook-ups and water · Snowmobile Trail · Facility used by community residents for walking, running and dog walking · Tri-State Outdoor Festival
From August 2007 to May 2008, the fair was especially proud to team up with the Southeast Minnesota Rural Education Center in St. Charles on a flood recovery/distribution center for victims of the August 2007 flooding. Donations of clothing, furniture, appliances and linens were among the many things available to flood victims free of charge.
Four buildings on the fairgrounds were used for this purpose with fair board members and fair volunteers assisting the resource center with the project. More than 500 families affected by the flood in southeastern Minnesota were helped through this cooperative effort.150 years of media reports for the
Winona County Fair
Winona Daily Republican – 1858
The First Fair
“There were some
very fine horses, oxen, cows and young cattle, also sheep, hogs and a
barnyard fowls, quite superior…there was a good a good display of
vegetables…sweet potatoes which weighed four pounds each, beets weighing
15 pounds, pumpkins and turnips”.
Winona Daily Republican – October 7, 1861
The Fourth Annual Fair
“The fourth annual fair of the Winona County Agricultural Society was held in the town of Warren on the 27th and 28th of September. The weather being very unfavorable, the attendance much less than it would otherwise have been. The proceeds of the fair was forty dollars, and after paying for the labor of preparing the grounds leaves $35.00 to be distributed”.
Winona Daily Republican- October 18, 1869
The 1869 Fair
“The Winona County Fair, held at Winona on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday of this week was a very interesting exhibition… at the trotting grounds match on Thursday afternoon Capt. Heaney’s mare, Nellie, took a premium in competition with the three other good horses”.
Winona Daily News – November 19, 1955
The Wedding of August 27, 1889
“Fair officials not only sponsored a public wedding in 1889 at the Winona County Fair, but also indulged in a type of advertising many of us think as modern – teaser ads.
Long before the fair scheduled for August 27-31, 1889, posters announced that a young couple, whose names were to be secret until fair time, would be married in public as a special fair event.
On Tuesday August 27, 1889 at 2:00 p.m. the wedding took place smoothly, with 5,000 onlookers. With the Rev. Alfred Cressey of the Methodist Episcopal Church as officiating clergyman, D.T. Hicks of St. Charles and Roanna Stinson of Winona were married. The bride wore an elegant blue surah silk with matching bonnet. The crowd loved it and as far as this editor knows, the couple lived happily ever after”.
Winona Republican Herald - September 6, 1913
Hundred Autos for the Trip to St.Charles
“The committee appointed to look after the Winona Auto Trip to the St. Charles Fair would like to see automobile owners turn out in full force to show our neighbors that we also take an interest in their affairs and their success… there is room for all of us in this world, and if there have been any differences in the past let us forget them and make the Winona County Fair and the Tri-State Fair big successes”.
The Winona Republican Herald - August 19, 1939
Opening Day of the 1939 Fair
“Thrill Day at the Winona County Fair Friday kept a crowd estimated at 5,000 sitting on the edge of their seats, and today’s and Sunday’s crowds will see the best variety of entertainment and exhibits in the long history of the fair, according to R. M. Dixon of St. Charles, veteran fair secretary and horse race official”.
St. Charles Press – August 26, 1954
Fair and St. Charles Centennial Draws Record Crowd in
St. Charles
“Certainly the 1954 Winona County fair will go down in history providing more things of interest than any other.
It is estimated that more than 10,000 persons gathered Friday at the closing spectacle in St. Charles’ Community Summer Centennial celebration. A long parade moved down Whitewater Ave. to the Winona County Fairgrounds where fair spectators crowded the grandstand and race track fences”.
Winona Daily News – July 8, 2004
Bad Monkey
“Authorities ordered a monkey quarantined Wednesday at the Winona County Fairgrounds, and two people bitten by the monkey agreed to undergo rabies shots”.
Winona Daily News – July 9, 2004
Two
Boys Admit to Releasing Monkeys
”Two
St. Charles boys admitted to police Wednesday night they broke into a
trailer at the Winona County Fairgrounds and let five monkeys loose,
Winona County Sheriff Dave Brand said… the boys ages 13 and 14, let the
monkeys loose about 3:00 p.m. on Tuesday. Handlers immediately rounded
up four of the monkeys, but onlookers chased one, a Capuchin (Named
Lucas)…The 7-year-old monkey bit two people in the hand before being
caught. Winona County authorities ordered the owner, Brian Staples to
quarantine the monkey for 28 days after the two victims agreed to get a
series of six rabies shots over 28 days.
2008 Winona County Fair Board Members
Carlus Dingfelder Richard Schaber
Jean Engler Donna Speltz
Bruce Christie
Dean Sanders
Ehren Heim Joe Speltz
Dan Ihrke Phil Thesing
Ken Kjosa Cindy Timm
Sara Laqua
4-H Program Coordinator:
Carolyn Dingfelder
County
Commissioner:
Marcia Ward
4-H Federation Representatives:
Shane Colter & Christopher Drenckhahn