Victoria Munro poses with popcorn at the Hillsdale County Fair. Lauren Bixler | Collegian
A live animal birthing tent, antique tractors, rides, elephant ears, and a country-music concert have attracted local and out-of-county fairgoers to the 175th Hillsdale County Fair this week.
“We love this community. It’s the last fair of Michigan summer, so it’s kind of a last little farewell to our season,” May’s Concessions Owner Quinton Mayhanagian said. “It’s just kind of a special place.”
In addition to the exhibitions and competitions at the fair, the grandstand, which displays the slogan “the most popular fair on earth,” was built in 1872 to host crowd-attracting events.
In a change from the typical fair event schedule, this year began with National Tractor Pulling Association tractor pulls on Sunday and antique tractor pulls on Monday. The NTPA tractor pull usually takes place on the last day or two of the fair, but this year it kicked off the week. Tractor pulling is an event where tractors are attached to a weight sled that gradually increases its weight, and the pull ends either when the tractor runs out of track or the weight of the sled overtakes the tractor’s ability to pull it.
On Tuesday, there was a TNT demolition derby, an event where drivers intentionally ram their cars into each other until only one vehicle remains operational. This event will also close off the fair Saturday night.
All kinds of livestock are on display at the fair. Lauren Bixler | Collegian
Wednesday featured the TK Pro Rodeo for the second time, which is a professional competition consisting of eight total events, including barrel racing and bull riding.
Thursday will showcase a returning event, the “Thunder Thursday” truck pull, a motorsports event where heavily-modified and horsepower-boosted trucks pull a heavy sled to determine the strongest vehicle and most skilled driver.
Lastly, on Friday, the fair will host a live concert featuring Tyler Farr, a country artist with over 500,000 monthly listeners on Spotify. He will be joined by guest artists Jason Cross and Hayden Ladd for a one-night-only performance.
The first Hillsdale County Fair was held in October of 1851 on the Courthouse Square in the City of Hillsdale, according to the fair website. After spending years jumping between locations in Hillsdale and Jonesville, the current grounds were purchased in 1860, where permanent buildings such as the Flower Hall, the Livestock Exhibition Center, and the oldest grange building in the United States now stand. Over time, the fair increased its capacity.
The fair’s concessions are as rich in generational traditions as the other cherished attractions, according to Mayhanagian of May’s Concessions.
“We’ve been in business since 1921 — I’m a fourth-generation of May’s Concessions and taking over for my dad. He’s been coming to this fair for at least 40 years,” Mayhanagian said.
Mayhanagian said he intends to honor the generations of May’s Concessions before him.
“I would say, just maintaining our recipes for our caramel corn and our caramel apples — they have been the same recipes for over 100 years,” Mayhanagian said.
At Mary’s Elephant Ears stand, Caiden Bauer said he is taking over the business and honoring the tradition of his grandmother by carrying on the family name.
“I’m Mary’s grandson, and I inherited this business,” Bauer said while holding a giant “elephant ear,” a large piece of fried dough commonly sold at fairs.
Scott Vincent hands a customer french fries. Lauren Bixler | Collegian
David Town, the founder of the live birthing tent, said the tent is at full capacity, which is more than plenty to handle while explaining the birthing process to passers-by.
“This area is quite popular. A lot of the families go through — that’s what it’s for: the kids,” Town said. “I pop out and see parents explaining stuff to the kids, and I try to narrate the birthing process.”
Town said the mission of the tent is to preserve the memory of agriculture for people who grew up removed from it.
“This basically started as an education to my city cousins — who are four generations removed from the farm — to show them what life’s like on the farm and the miracle of life,” Town said.
The mission of the tent aligns closely with the heritage of the fair, which began with a group of farmers who desired to share the advances in agriculture and preserve its traditions, according to the fair website.
Some of the events have undergone changes over the years, said Historical Society member Nancy Whitson.
“We used to have sulky harness races here with the horses. It was very entertaining and something that a lot of people enjoyed, and that of course has been gone now for a couple of years,” Whitson said.
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