THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, September 14, 1994 TAG: 9409130150
SECTION: ISLE OF WIGHT CITIZEN PAGE: 08 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Cover Story
SOURCE: BY LINDA McNATT
DATELINE: ISLE OF WIGHT LENGTH: Long : 157 lines
A SHAVE AND A haircut didn't cost even two bits when Scud the goat lined up for his grooming last week at the Department of Public Works.
In fact, for Scud, the grooming was free. And he got a bath to boot.
Just like most folks, Scud, adopted as the mascot of Public Works during Operation Desert Storm and named for the much-used missile, was getting ready for this weekend's county fair - the first in more than 50 years.
The fair, scheduled Thursday through Sunday, is a celebration of the county's 360th anniversary, a four-day extravaganza with rides, entertainment, exhibits, competitions and animals, animals, animals.
And Scud, in all of his black and white spotted finery, will be one of the animal attractions, said Laura Gregory, a 4-H extension technician who is in charge of animal exhibits.
``We'll have a 4-H lamb show and sale, a petting zoo, a backyard rabbit show, a poultry show,'' Gregory said, clinging to Scud's neck. ``The Humane Society is putting on a pet show. There will be a horse demonstration on Saturday afternoon, possibly some roping and cutting events. There will be something going on all the time.''
For more than a year, that's exactly what volunteers and employees of the county have been planning - something going on all the time.
``We have a lot of volunteers involved,'' said Public Works Director Lud Creef said. ``We've had meetings every month. We've ordered 22 huge tents, and every single one of them will be full.''
Full of animals, baked goods, homegrown vegetables, grains and farm products, pickles, preserves, canned products from kitchens across the county, antique farm equipment.
``We've tried to make sure that it will be a good quality, old-timey county fair,'' Creef said.
Creef gives much of the credit for the planning to Alan Nogiec, director of the Isle of Wight County Recreational Facilities Authority. It was Nogiec, Creef said, who was determined from the beginning that the county's first fair in so many years would stay true to the flavor of the rural, agricultural community and be as much as possible like what many county residents remember the fair was like when it was held each year between 1921 and 1941.
But Nogiec would rather give credit to everybody else in the county who has been working so hard to bring it together.
``Many of the activities relate to what might have happened in the old days,'' Nogiec said, with a note of nostalgia in his voice. ``It has been a lot of hard work.
``We'll have a tobacco spitting contest - the kids will really spit bubble gum juice. They can play needle in the haystack and climb a greased pole. There will be a pie eating contest, a mule pull, horseshoe competition with separate categories for adults and senior citizens.''
If it's nostalgia you want, talk to residents of the county who remember the fair that was.
It was held every year at the old Windsor High School, the two-story wonder of a building with the auditorium upstairs that was packed so full for the fair that everybody feared the building would fall down, said Doris Pruden, 76.
``I remember one year - I was just a little girl - everybody was outside talking about the building was going to collapse,'' Pruden said, laughing. ``I was scared to death!''
The old fair started as a exhibition of schoolwork, mostly, by the students of Windsor High and the school's agricultural and home economics department, said Eva Butler, 72. Students won awards for expertise in drawing, handwriting and speech making.
The first fair in 1921 was called the Farmers Day and Fair of the Windsor High School, and it was so successful that the three other high schools in the county - Smithfield, Isle of Wight and Carrsville - were invited to participate. Later, the name was changed to the Isle of Wight County School and Agricultural Fair.
Year after year, the fair just grew and grew, said Martha Godwin, an 82-year-old former Windsor home economics teacher.
``You know, one year, they had a beauty contest,'' Godwin said, giggling. ``I'm sorry to say I was in it. It was maybe about 1926. I wore something red. It was a suit, I think. I haven't thought about that in years.''
Butler recalled that she won ribbons for her handwriting and essays almost every year, for as long as she was in high school.
``On the grounds, there were competitions for pole vaulting, broad jumping, high jumping, shotput throwing,'' Butler said. ``Each school had a contestant sure to win first in some category. Even after we left school, the fair was usually held during the first trip home from college to meet old classmates and friends to reminisce and to support your school.''
Back then, prizes were handed out for the best sow, best pig, best 10 ears of corn, best peck of peanuts, best ``undergarment, plain,'' and ``undergarment, with handwork.''
Winners went on to a four-county fair held in Suffolk each year, and from there to the Virginia State Fair. The Windsor Fair Committee paid expenses for a stock judging team to attend the state fair. Three boys who made the highest grades in agricultural classes at county high schools won that coveted award.
``But oh, that chicken salad,'' Pruden said. ``What I remember the most was that chicken salad all the women got together and made. It was the best I ever tasted.''
Local folks started talking about reviving the fair soon after the county celebrated its 350th anniversary about 10 years ago, Nogiec said, because that one-day event was so successful.
A couple of years later, Grace Keen, an active county resident involved in many civic organizations, brought the idea officially to the Board of Supervisors, Nogiec said. The Isle of Wight Fair Foundation was started about four years ago, he said. But officials decided that the best way to handle the fair this first year was to put the recreation department at the helm.
Richard Turner, a former member of the Board of Supervisors, and Keen were appointed chairman and vice chairman of the fair committee. Nogiec, along with former supervisor Joel Bradshaw, took over as co-chairmen.
It was Nogiec's idea to contract Amusements of America, with over 30 attractions and rides, to bring in crowds from outside the local community. And planning the fair for a four-day run made good economic sense, he said.
``We wanted this as a program to benefit the people of Isle of Wight,'' Nogiec said. ``We wanted to get people from throughout the county involved. And we wanted to make generally enough money for the fair to pay for itself and hopefully to provide money for future fairs. We decided it should be spread out over several days.''
And the fair got lucky, Nogiec said, when the Board of Supervisors stepped in and offered the county's official backing.
``Southampton County, for example, has been doing its fair for about 12 years,'' Nogiec said. ``And they've done a really good job of it. But we are lucky to have the support of the supervisors. We've acquired the property right next to the courthouse, and we're getting help from every department in the county.''
The fair will be held on 50 acres of farmland in the center of the county, half devoted to the fair and entertainment, half devoted to parking, Creef said.
Opening ceremonies, featuring skydivers, dignitaries, music and guests from Isle of Wight County, England, will be held at 5 p.m. on Thursday. On Friday, the fair starts early, at 9:30 a.m., when the poultry show will be judged.
And from there on out, until the fair closes at 5 p.m. on Sunday, there will be continuous music, food, fun, entertainment, recreation and competition. Applications for any of the exhibits and/or contests can be picked up on opening day.
If you've never been to an old-fashioned fair before, or if you remember what the fair once was like, it's an event that shouldn't be missed.
``I might go every day,'' Eva Butler said. ILLUSTRATION: Staff photos by JOHN H. SHEALLY II
Laura Gregory gets Scud the goat ready for the Isle of Wight County
Fair, where he will be the unofficial mascot.[color cover photo]
Laura Gregory with Molly and Timmy, miniature horses that will be at
the Isle of Wight County Fair.
``We've tried to make sure that it will be a good quality, old-timey
county fair,'' said Public Works Director Ludford Creef III.
Photos by LINDA McNATT
Doris Pruden, Martha Godwin and Eva Butler reminisce about the fair
that was held for 20 years in Windsor.
Jim Garner
Will handle utilities
HOURS OF OPERATION
Mementos from the Farmers Day and Fair, the forerunner of the County
Fair.
by CNB