I follow a social media page that focuses on my home county. The administrator of the page, who I went to high school with, always comes up with neat old photos, the history of families in the county, and so forth. Since I like that sort of thing, I enjoy seeing what she has found or what folks have given her to post.
Among the recent posts are photos of newspaper clippings. I’m not sure if it was a special edition or just random ads, but they served as salutes to farmers, thanking them for their hard work and business. I’m sure our columnist Jim Hamilton could tell us what the photos and ads were for because he was the paper’s editor at the time.
Seeing the posts made me think of when communities celebrated agriculture. I remember an Ag Days type of celebration when I was a kid at my elementary school. Our pony was there as a part of a little petting zoo. There were farm-inspired games, and it was a lot of fun.
When I lived along the Missouri River, there were apple and peach events across the county each fall. Apple judging was new to me, so that was interesting to watch. I got carried away at the live auction one year and bought a bushel of apples. If you are wondering, a bushel of apples weighs about 40 to 45 pounds. I lived alone then, and I quickly got burned out on apples. I had no way to can them and no freezer to speak of, so I baked lots of apple pies and crisps for everyone I could think of before the apples went to waste.
In the old days, harvest festivals were more than just the opportunity to get a pumpkin spice, whatever to eat or drink, and wear flannel shirts; the events celebrated agriculture.
Many communities in the region still have long-standing traditions with origins in agriculture, which is great, but do people still understand how and why the festival or event began?
The history and importance of agriculture in our hometowns is slowly slipping away. As our country was expanding, communities began to grow around agriculture. Stockyards were often a city’s first industry. People moved near farming and ranching towns because they had reliable access to food and other goods. Not far from my house, a town was built around a couple of grist mills.
In today’s world, a growing number of people don’t know milk comes from a cow or that bacon is from a pig. Some folks might give up eggs if they knew where they came from. However, if there is a festival with rides and carnival games, they are the first in line for tickets, whether it’s dairy days, a harvest festival, or a traveling carnival that found a spot to set up for a day or two.
My small county fair doesn’t have rides or games, so every year, the board hears complaints from those who think rides are the only thing at a fair of interest. They don’t see the hard work exhibitors and their families put into their livestock or the youth and home economics exhibits. Those are the foundations of county fairs.
The days of celebrating agriculture have given way to the celebration of “me” and “I.” What can you do for me? Can I be entertained? How does it benefit me?
I guess learning the history of your community and finding out where your food comes from isn’t enough of an incentive.
Thank you to all the farmers and ranchers in the Ozarks. You are essential and very much appreciated, no matter how big or small. Without you, our towns and our country would not be the same.
Julie Turner-Crawford is a native of Dallas County, Mo., where she grew up on her family’s farm. She is a graduate of Missouri State University. To contact Julie, call 1-866-532-1960 or by email at [email protected].
