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A History of The Oconto County Fair Agricultural fairs were held in both Oconto and Oconto Falls during the late 1800's and early 1900's. Advertisements in the Oconto County Reporter in 1902 lured residents to the Oconto County Fair that year with entertainment that included Dana's Third Regiment Band, daily balloon ascensions by the celebrated Belmont sisters, horse running and trotting races that only county farmers were eligible to enter, and the promise of large cash premiums for farmers' exhibits. In the fall of 1919 a corn and potato show was organized in Oconto. It was an open show with both adult and youth exhibiting. The show was held at the Oconto Armory and included entertainment in addition to the exhibits. In 1936 the State of Wisconsin recognized the Oconto Corn and Potato Show as the official Oconto County Fair. Pastor Koch and Walter Smith, members of the Gillett Civic Club introduced the idea of a fair for the youth of the county to the group in 1939. The Civic Club went along with the idea and the first Oconto County Youth Fair was held in 1941. Zippel Park in Gillett was chosen as the site for the fair but considerable work was required to prepare the site. The only building on the property was the Dance Hall (Pavilion) and much of the land was low and wet. At that first fair home furnishings, clothing, and woodworking exhibits were shown in the pavilion. Exhibits had to be removed the day after judging to make way for the dance that evening. A large tent purchased from a traveling show housed livestock exhibits. The following year Fair Board members, Emery Ansorge and Harvey Telford led efforts to secure abandoned buildings from the Mountain CCC Camp. The buildings were dismantled, hauled to Gillett, and reassembled for use as exhibit buildings. Those buildings served the fair into the 1990's. The main exhibition building is still in use today. In 1985 the board of directors of the Fair, under the leadership of president, William Steffel, Jr. acted on a long held vision by purchasing the William Kahler farm located on top of the hill just outside of the City of Gillett as a site for a future fairgrounds. Oconto County and a number of townships supported the purchase with contributions that supplemented funds raised by the Fair. The prohibitive cost of providing public utilities to the property later dashed the hopes of seeing the property developed as a fair site. Two developments proved the property purchase to be a wise investment even though it did not become the site of the fair. The Ansorge family purchased the property adjoining Zippel Park and donated it to the City of Gillett as Honey Park with the understanding that it would also be available for use by the County Fair. At about the same time the condition of the cattle, small animal, and pig barn at the fairgrounds became so bad that they could no longer be repaired. The Kahler property was sold and the proceeds leveraged loans for the replacement of the animal exhibit facilities over a period of 4 years on the expanded park property. Oconto County matched the fair board's funds to make the new barns a reality. Throughout its 60 plus year history the Oconto County Youth Fair has had as its core mission providing a means to help develop youthful residents of the county into productive, community minded citizens. That mission has been carried out through the hard work and sacrifice of succeeding generations of community leaders willing to make that mission come alive every August. References: Ontario Association of Agricultural Fairs website, International Association of Fairs and Expositions website, Oconto County Youth Fair-A Beginning, Mimeo, Sally Buseman, undated Memories From Oscar, Mimeo, Oscar G. Woelfel, Mimeo, undated History of the Oconto County Youth Fair, Mimeo, Author unknown,
based on Wisconsin Historical Society Newspaper Archives at Farnsworth Public Minutes of the Oconto County Youth Fair Board of Directors |