Knox County 4-H/Fair Held at Edina Town Square
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By Echo Menges
The 2021 Knox County 4-H/ FFA Fair went off without a hitch last week. The fair was hosted at the 4-H/FFA Pavilion north of the Knox County Courthouse in Edina for the last time for the foreseeable future. Plans have been laid for the Edina City Lake property to host upcoming fair events.
This year’s event was a welcome occurrence to many fair goers after last year’s pandemic restrictions kept many away.
This year, fair goers attended unmasked sharing personal space and smiling for the opportunity to come together to support the efforts of local youth and the University of Missouri Extension leadership through countless volunteers – many of whom are parents and caregivers of 4-H and Future Farmers of America members.
The weather was a hot topic of discussion during the fair as it was not as hot as in years past, rain muddied the grounds considerably, and a Thursday rainstorm pushed on fair meal inside the Knox County Community Center. Wet conditions also made for wet conditions in the Knox County Courthouse Courtyard and moved the fair meals to the blacktop of Monticello Street. None-the-less, attendance throughout the week showed strong support from the community at large.
Fair meals were hosted throughout the week by a collection of local entities and not-for-profit groups raising money and giving back to the community.
This year, the fair week schedule kept with the traditions of previous years.
This year’s Art Hall exhibition was held online for public display and hosted at the Knights of Columbus Hall at the top of North Main Street, which is a change from previous pre-pandemic years of being hosted at the Harris Building. The Dog Show, Art Hall Award Ceremony, Clover Kid Recognition, Fashion Review and Royalty Coronation was held as usual Monday evening minus the FFA Super Farmer Contest, which was foregone this year.
The Citizens Bank of Edina kicked off the first fair meal with their free offering of hot dogs, hamburgers, chips, cookies and drinks. The annual tradition fetched the largest fair meal crowd serving over 300 meals, according to Bank Vice-President Debbie Peters.
On Tuesday evening, the fair hosted the Beef Show and Dairy Show. Tuesday’s fair meal was hosted by the Knights of Columbus who raised money serving steaks, baked potatoes, coleslaw, beans, drinks and cookies. According to Knights of Columbus member Tom Morgret, the meal sold out after serving 140 people.
Also, on Tuesday, KMEM-FM 100.5 did live remote interviews with all of the Fair Royalty and some local volunteers from the sidewalk in front of The Edina Sentinel office.
On Wednesday, the only the scheduled Goat Show was held as there were no Sheep Show entries this year.
The Wednesday evening fair meal was hosted by Cordelio Power and served by Bobby Rays Barbecue food truck. Bobby Ray’s ran out of food after serving 310 meals of pulled pork and chicken sandwiches, baked beans, coleslaw and drinks. This meal was served at no charge and a fund collection was taken to benefit the Knox County Rescue Squad, which raised $952.12 during the meal.
On Thursday, the most participated-in livestock show was held – the Swine Show, which fetched a large crowd and had the most activity on the grounds for the week despite wet and rainy conditions.
Thursday evening, the fair meal was hosted by the Knox County Chamber of Commerce. The rains opened up venue donation offerings from the Knights of Columbus and the Knox County Community Center. Chamber volunteers held the meal inside the community center and served approximately 80 meals.
On Friday, the last day of the fair, the livestock Poultry Show and Rabbit Show were held in the morning and the annual Fair Sale was held in the evening. Volunteers from Sullivan Auctioneers auctioned off fair entries to an eager crowd of supporters with help from Edina Livestock Sales. The Fair Sale was live streamed on the NEMOnews Facebook page and the recorded video can be accessed there and on edinasentinel.com.
Friday’s fair meal was hosted by the Knox County United Methodist Parish serving approximately 175 pork tenderloins, chips, coleslaw, cookies and drinks.
Immediately following the annual Fair Sale, volunteers, 4-H and FFA members went to work cleaning up the grounds in Edina, for the last time. Next year, the Edina City Lake is expected to be the backdrop of the 2022 Knox County 4-H/FFA Fair!
Look for the Art Hall Awards results in this week’s newspaper. Next week livestock show results will be featured in the newspaper.
Knox County 4-H and FFA member and photographer Tanner Ellison worked hard throughout the week taking a remarkable amount of photos during the events. Tanner’s photos are featured on the Knox County Extension Office Facebook page.
