Cranberry Red: A Novel

31. Ames County Fair

127 Of all the various activities Ben Wesley had been involved in when he was county agricultural agent, the Ames County Fair stood high on the list of those he enjoyed most. He liked the excitement surrounding the event; the Ferris wheel with its seats swinging high above the fair grounds, giving riders a bird’s-eye view of Willow River and points beyond; the merry-goround with its carved horses moving up and down in a circle, with spirited music playing; the games of chance lining both sides of the blacktopped midway: “Knock over the milk bottles.” “Dump the politician,” a game where you bought a ticket and tossed a baseball at a target; if you hit it your favorite, or not, politician—the mayor, county board chair, assembly person—fell into a round tank of water about four feet deep with a big splash and considerable cheering by those gathered around. Ben liked walking through the livestock barns, watching 4-H members prepare their animals for the show ring, talking with their parents, many of whom he knew personally from many years working with them. His strolls through the horticulture building delighted him: 4-H members’ garden project exhibits, with freshly dug carrots, beets, potatoes, rutabagas, cabbage , and sweet corn. And of course cucumbers because Ames County, as it had been since the 1930s, was a major producer of cucumbers in Wisconsin . Ben knew the stories going back to the 1950s, long before he became a county agricultural agent, when the cucumber growing competition was not only among 4-H members with garden projects, but also among Ames County Fair 31 cucumber growers who competed for the title of Ames County Cucumber King. He remembered the story that several old timers told him about what had happened at the 1955 Ames County Fair when two old farmer friends competed for the title. It was the year that Jake Stewart began growing vast acreages of cucumbers for the H. H. Harlow Company, while his neighbor, Isaac Meyer, like many other farmers in Ames County, grew but one half acre. Jake was certain his cucumber exhibit would best Isaac’s; after all, Jake had thirty acres of cucumbers from which to choose. And he was certain the ones he put in the exhibit would outshine any other cucumbers in Ames County, especially those of his old friend and neighbor Isaac Meyer. The judge, a county agricultural agent from Portage County, discovered that Jake Stewart’s cucumbers were diseased, had what was called “spot rot,” and the judge disqualified the entire entry. Of course Jake Stewart had a fit about it, to the point that the 1955 fair seemed to be the one that everyone talked about when someone mentioned Ames County fairs from the past. As county agricultural agent, Ben Wesley had been essentially in charge of the fair, rounding up volunteers, hiring judges, lining up a carnival for the midway, helping write the publicity (of course the Ames County Fair board made all the policy decisions). But this year much had changed. All 4-H signs had been removed or painted over and replaced with the emblem for RFD, the new organization that had recently arrived in the county and had the blessing of the fair board to allow RFD members to show at the fair. The red barn with the letters RFD superimposed on it was not an unattractive sight. But Ben missed the popular and longstanding 4-H symbol, a four-leaf clover with a block letter “H” on each leaf. As per a temporary arrangement with the RFD organization, former 4-H members could bring their projects to the county fair, if they joined RFD. Many did, but not all. The cattle barn appeared to be about a third empty, one entire long table in the horticulture building stood empty, and the former 4-H woodworking display had about half as many entries as in previous years. It was clear that many former 4-H member families didn’t have the money necessary for the membership fee to join RFD, and thus their projects stayed home along with many unhappy young people. 128 Ames County Fair 129 Ames County Fair Ben, rather than making sure everything at the fair ran smoothly from night security to project judging, had none of these responsibilities this year. He, along with office manager Brittani Stone, sat...