By Pastor Leah Fintel Krotz, Trinity Lutheran Church, Bruning
I’ve been spending quite a bit of time at the N.C.K. Free Fair and the Thayer County Fair during the past couple of weeks—helping with 4-H horticulture entering and judging, checking out all of the exhibits, watching livestock shows, enjoying the parade, catching up with friends and neighbors, and having fun with our grandchildren on the midway.
The fair always brings back a lot of memories. We were active in 4-H and I well remember the rush to complete all of our projects in time for the fair, as well as helping our kids do the same in later years. The fair was so exciting—not only because of the prizes and ribbons we might win, but because it was a chance to see all of the friends and classmates we’d missed over the summer.
There is a certain blend of sounds that I associate with the fair…the sound of the Bingo caller, the screams from the rides on the midway, the roar of stock care races, and Margaret Meyers, the soundtrack of the fair as she made announcements over the loudspeaker. I can still hear her voice, asking someone to “please report to the Agricultural Hall.” After Margaret retired, my mom took over the job, keeping things running smoothly from her tiny “office” under the stairs in the Ag Hall.
In fact, many of my fair memories include the old two-and-half-story octagonal-shaped Agricultural Hall, a local landmark for years until it was destroyed in the Deshler tornado in 2003. As kids, it was exciting to head up the stairs to see our classwork and art displayed in the balcony and to wander around the maze of exhibits on the lower level.
When I was on student council in high school, we came up with the idea of holding our homecoming dance in the ag hall, and I think the tradition continued on after that. We thought we were the originators of the idea, but I recently read in the “Pages of the Past” that dances had been held there decades earlier as well.
The current community center that has replaced Ag Hall is air-conditioned, modern, and convenient, but I still miss the hot, crowded, impractical Ag Hall of my memories!
You know, it’s easy to be nostalgic about the past, but all seasons of life have their own joys as well as sorrows—and no matter what season we’re in, we can remember that God holds us firmly in his hands, and will never let us go. I am so thankful for that!
“There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens.” –Ecclesiastes 3:1
