Beaty has become fair fixture

He has been volunteering at the yearly event for over a quarter of a century, so it’s right on target to say county extension agent Dale Beaty has become a fixture at the fair.

‘I came to Warren County in 1981, so I think this is 26 fairs,’ Beaty said.

Though he was already pretty busy, Beaty took some time out from helping set up the agriculture building displays to talk about some of the history and changes he has seen come about over the years he has been involved.

‘The first year I came to Warren County I was 4-H agent and they built us a junior ag building,’ Beaty recalled. ‘And we expanded from about 20 categories for the kids to enter to the 180 categories we have now for junior ag. Basically it’s the same categories their parents and their grandparents can enter. So it really boosted the number of kids who could bring something.

‘So that’s really gone well and I’ve really enjoyed working with those kids,’ Beaty said. ‘Watching them bring the stuff in, and a lot of the time that’s all I do is kind of watch them bring it in.’

Beaty gives much of the credit to the volunteers who help with the agricultural entries, and says he acts as more of a facilitator than anything else.

‘You’ve got Mrs. Nelle Roller and her son, Steve, working the field crops into that building,’ Beaty said. ‘Mrs. Linda and Betty Martin working the other end of the building. So if they need some more trays or if they need items taken to where they’re going to be displayed, I just kind of try to help out with that.’

He and the other volunteers do have some other duties, however, some of which can get a bit complicated on occasion.

‘My co-workers and I get the judges for the fair,’ Beaty said, ‘and that involves some distress sometimes because you’re trying to get somebody to come out on a Saturday afternoon, or trying to get people to come out here on a Friday night. We get the judges for the different livestock shows and for many of the exhibits.’

Beaty says there are some methods which work well for this though, such as appealing to other counties.

‘We use a lot of our co-workers sometimes,’ Beaty said. ‘You come judge our fair, I’ll come judge your fair. So it kind of works out like that.’

Like most of those who have spent their time volunteering at the fair year after year, Beaty says the event is of tremendous importance to the community, particularly to those who make their living in agriculture.

‘Oh, I think it’s great,’ Beaty said. ‘This is still an agricultural fair. We still have a lot of agricultural exhibits here. One of the best buildings on this fairground is the nursery building down there. You go in there and it’s like five degrees cooler than anywhere else on the fairgrounds.’

Beaty says the people who give of their time every year are really the unsung heroes of the fair.

‘There’s just such a great bunch of volunteers,’ Beaty said.

One story in particular sticks in Beaty’s mind.

‘The 4-H funnel cake booth,’ Beaty said. ‘Mr. Clifford McClain helped us get that started. The first year we had funnel cakes here we cooked on pallets with fish kettles. Mr. McClain came along and said, ‘You’ve got to do better than this.’ And we told him we didn’t have the money to do any better than that, we were spending it on the kids.

‘Then poplar lumber started showing up and he just kind of pitched in and helped us get the building built,’ Beaty said. ‘So you know, this fair really runs on volunteers. They may not ever go to a fair board meeting, but they know when the fair is and they show up and they help do something.’

And what does he most look forward to every year?

‘Probably the second Saturday morning of the fair,’ Beaty said. ‘We come in after the beef show on Friday night and just sort of help them get the sheep show started, and then just kind of stand around. I like to see the dog show on Saturday morning while I’m standing around. Have coffee and watch the mule show.

‘In other words, when I don’t have anything to do out here,’ Beaty said with a laugh. ‘Just watch the people.’

Beaty says he truly enjoys volunteering and looks forward to the fair, but acknowledges it is a lot of work, which has given those involved a certain philosophy over the years.

‘You know, we’re always glad to see the fair come,’ Beaty said with a grin, ‘and generally pretty glad to see it go too.’