Township Booths and Fair Doors

Peterson Township booth, showing the work put into each booth from 1923 until 1965

A highlight for many years at the Clay County Fair started after the completion of the Agriculture

Building in 1923, when the Township Booth Exhibits were begun.  Representing each of the townships in Clay County, the booths were all decorated alike and the booth exhibits were also displayed in a like manner.

By 1933, when Martin O. Johnson was Superintendent and Mrs. Frank Elliott, assistant, the fair association bought and installed new green burlap for all of the booths and also made general repairs to the booths.  The fronts were made dismountable so they could be taken down to permit decorations to be made more easily.

Included in each booth would be large, even-rowed ears of corn, canned jams, jellies, squash, tomatoes and cherries, to name only a few.

Each of the exhibits had a slogan over the entrance promoting the major interests of the townships.  All of the exhibits were the works of farmers and farm wives, and many a child offered a helping hand.

By 1952, years of practice and suggestions from judges had perfected the exhibits almost to a point of perfection.  Committees were set up in each township to develop each phase of their exhibits.  These included a group for decorating and general appearance of the booth and one for each of the seven classes of exhibits.  Those classes included one for corn, small grain, sheaf grain, forage crops, fruits and melons, vegetables, canned goods, frozen foods and miscellaneous.  The miscellaneous class included any thirty products which had not been used elsewhere in the township exhibit.  The frozen foods class was a new one in 1952 and came about by popular demand due to the great number of home deep freezers.  Each township had the opportunity to enter samples of both frozen fruit and vegetables to compete in this class.

The competition was keen each year, with each township hoping to take honors.  The result was a beautifully done display that fairgoers flocked to see.

In 1966, the township booths were replaced by a new idea, The One Hundred Holiday Doors.  Each township decorated ten doors with a different holiday theme.  In 1967, the 50th anniversary of the Clay County Fair, the theme was anniversaries, with each township coming up with unique ideas to carry out the theme.

Both the Township Booths and the Doors are no more, however, their contributions to the fair were tremendous.  Not only for the enjoyment they provided for the people who admired them throughout the years.