Romans remembers the fair
By Scott Ford
Argus Observer
Friday, July 24, 2009 11:27 AM PDT
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| Submitted photo
Ken Romans, Ontario, stands next to his steer he raised to compete in the Malheur County Fair in 1947. Romans has been an active participant in the fair all his life, whether as a competitor or as a patron of the fair. |
Ontario—For the past 100 years, the fair has been a staple in the lives of many Malheur County families, and, for Ontario’s Ken Romans, the fair is a generational tradition that goes back to some of the very first fairs.
“Today, the fair does not mean too much to me, but years ago it was very important to me,” Romans said. “I still enjoy going down and looking at the exhibits and to see the changes that have come to agriculture.” When Romans was a young boy, he said the fair was a huge event for his family and for himself.
“I was young. The fair took up all my time. We had animals that we would start with in the spring and grew them through the summer and would take them to the fair,” Romans said. “It was something to do with your parents because they were usually involved in a leadership role. The fair would not be much with out the parents.” Romans said, when he was a boy, his father was involved with the Malheur County Fair, and he remembers it being much larger then.
“The fair had more exhibits back when I was young, but the quality is much better today,” Romans said. “But the exhibits had more numbers and more people were involved. The garden part used to take up the entire Red Barn, and there were a lot of local exhibits which included cooking and canning.”
Romans said he feels the reason the fair has dropped in size is because the number of farm families has dropped as well.
“A county fair is important to the community, and the communities do look forward to it,” Romans said.
He said the Malheur County Fair blood still runs in his family. He has great-grandchildren who are participating in this year’s fair. Over the years, Romans said the Malheur County Fair has had some big entertainers.
“Back in the ’70s, JoAnn Cassel of the Lawrence Welk show came to entertain at the fair,” Romans said. “She could play a mean piano.”
Romans’ son Bill is active with the fair, and Romans said having more families carry on the tradition of attending or participating in the fair is a key element in keeping the annual event running and healthy.
“The fair needs more families to get involved. The fair needs new families to get started in the fair activities,” Romans said. “Strong leadership is also a key. It is hard to get people to volunteer their time at the fair, and that is what the fair needs now. We still have newcomers to the area who go out to the fair, and that is good.”
Romans said one of the things he likes the best about the fair is all the good food that is served.
“I am sure the fair would not be as big of a success that it is if not for the work of the fair director Janeen Kressly,” Romans said. “She is a good one.”
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