be McLean County 4-H Fair in Illinois has been a unique event in this
county for 73 years. It is believed to be the oldest running and largest 4-H fair
in the world. This cannot be documented, but until someone can dispute this
claim, we will believe it to be true. Working on this story of the fair bas been a
wonderful adventure for all those involved. We are grateful to those wbo were so
willing to share memories in our reminiscing sessions. We bad bours of tape,
and although we were not able to use everything that was said, we hope every-
one bad a good time meeting and talking fondly about the fair
We are indebted to all those who shared so willingly. We thank the
Mclean County Historical Society for letting us look through all the old fair
books in their possession. They were faithfully collected by the late Karl Mays
and donated by bim to the society. Also at the society was a scrapbook kept by
Mabel Ropp wbich belped fill in the gaps of early bistory.
We are also indebted to the Pantagraph Library wbo allowed us to look
at many files about the fair and the fairgrounds. Thanks also to the Pantagraph
for allowing us to use many photos from their pages. Special thanks to Francis
Salch for sharing bis many photos of the fair as well. Our editor, Gene Smedley,
former managing editor of the Pantagraph, served us well as be helped polish
our efforts.
Special thanks to Deep Das Gupta, assistant manager of Kinko's in
Bloomington, Illinois, and Kinko's designer, Jennifer Mayer. They embraced this
project and shared our enthusiasm wbich is evident in their excellent design
work and printing.
We are grateful to the McLean County Extension Service Foundation who
shared our vision and gave us their full support.
Writing bistory carries an awesome responsibility. We have endeavored to
make it accurate in fact, true in its interpretation, and as complete as possible.
Many who read this book will recall bis or her own special times at the fair. It is
our bope that this book brings many happy bours of enjoyment and serves as
an inspiration to young 4-H'ers who will make 4-H fair history in the future.