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page 216 Friday, August 3, 2012
The Logan County Fair
Who makes the fair go? A
peek behind the scenes at the
office
In Logan County, the fair is the place where
thousands of people will come together each day
to compete, show animals or wares, do a little
business, eat and drink, or be entertained.
In a look behind the scenes, there are those
at the fair who never get to experience the same
kind of fun that the rest of the fairgoers do. The
office workers are one of those groups. Behind
the closed doors of a little building (and in air
conditioning) near the south end, you will find two
office girls who have done the yeoman’s share of
paperwork and coordination needed for the fair.
This year two young women carry that load.
MaryJane Letterle and Katrina Schreiner have
been working in the Logan County fair office all
summer long.
In the offseason, both MaryJane and Katrina
are both full-time students, but both say they look
forward to the summer months, when they can
step back into the office, to the job that they love.
Office preparations for the Logan County Fair
begin in early June. There are ribbons to be sorted,
grandstand tickets to be sold and, most important,
entries to be taken. MaryJane and Katrina have their
hands in every detail surrounding the fair.
Over the course of the summer, the girls have
handwritten over 150 entry tags and computer printed
many more. MaryJane does not mind the tedious task.
“Having to write or type a lot of tags means lots of
entries, so that’s a good thing,” she said.
Indeed it is a good thing. Having more entries
means there will be more items such as paintings,
sewing projects, baked items or even Lego creations
for patrons to view at the fair. When it comes to the fair
displays, it’s all with the understanding that art, textile
and culinary projects may inspire another fair attendee
to practice all year in order to enter their creation at
next year’s fair.
There is never a dull moment while working in the
fair office. During the fair, the office girls spend 15
and 16 hours a day juggling checks, animal reports,
horse racing, phone calls and pointing fairgoers to the
restrooms.
From the queen pageant on Tuesday to the
demolition derby on Sunday, MaryJane and Katrina
have prepared something for each event. Even though
they are working at pitched fever this week and as they
become more sleep-deprived, running on caffeine,
both girls will greet anyone entering the office with a
pleasant, “Hello, can we help you?” sometimes in sync.
MaryJane and Katrina each have regrets about
working the office. MaryJane has never seen a live
animal show in the ring, and Katrina has never
participated in the demo derby.
However, it’s not an entirely dull, isolated existence
working for the office. The girls have been privy to
T
he fair association proudly claims the Logan County
Fair as “Illinois’ Cleanest and Best County Fair.”
That may be slightly biased, but after 76 years the fair is
still the best place where you could eat a corn dog and
watch the horse races while waiting in line for a coveted
ticket to the demolition derby; or any other combination
of dozens of food and entertainment choices this week.
2012 LOGAN COUNTY FAIR. A special editon of LINCOLN DAILY NEWS.com July 31, 2012