Memories of 4-H & the Fair

   I turned 10 years old in July of 1961 which meant I could join 4-H. I recall going over to the home of Lyle and Eunice Vogt later that year for my first meeting. Lyle was a leader of this club, composed of kids from farm families residing in Conway Township.

    That winter my father brought home a Holstein calf that he’d purchased for $100—a princely sum in those days—from our neighbors, Cleo and Marguerite Donal. We had Holsteins on our farm, my grandparents had Holsteins on their farm, but none of them were registered. This calf possessed that distinction. While you could show grade cattle, like ours, at the Fowlerville Fair, competing with a registered animal improved your chances and also gave you additional classes that you could participate in during fair week.

More Memories of 4-H & the Fair

    My first fair as a 4-H member was in July of 1962. I would be entering the fifth grade that fall. I subsequently attended five more, with my final one being in the summer of 1966 just before the start of my sophomore year.

  

  One of the fair traditions in those years was the annual Livestock Parade in front of the Grandstand near the end of the week. We cleaned up our animals and then, as a club, proceeded from the barn, going clockwise along the back stretch of the race track. There, with the traffic from Grand River passing behind us, we waited until it was our club’s turn to walk past the audience and have each of our names announced. The Grandstand was usually packed.