creative corner

Special to the Journal-Sun

I’m taking it easy these days. The publicity of the Cullen Baker Fair is over. Everywhere I go someone says, “I’m coming to the Fair.” I sure hope so. This event has been tightly constructed to work like a well-oiled machine but with various loose ends to allow spontaneous fun. I’ve been to every committee meeting. With the enthusiasm I’ve seen, I think it will be a success. Let’s go!

There is so much that has happened in peoples’ lives in this area as they lived them out to the backdrop of the Fair.

I recall a young woman who met her husband-to-be while working the window at the local bank. He rode up to that window on horseback during the Cullen Baker Fair and the rest is history. So many others can recall wonderful family events centered around the Cullen Baker Fair.

My own kids have many memories of their own about it. To tell the truth, I don’t know all they have experienced. From the git-go, I was pretty wrapped up in my booth activities. That first year...1974...my daughter had a grandma babysitter. She was that young. My son always hung out with the other grandparents selling stone ground cornmeal from their booth.

The Fair...back then...offered something for everyone. I remember the simple and sweet little Tricycle Race that first year. To those who watch the weather, never fear. It has only acted up once or twice in 46 years...that I know of.

I remember once the contents of my booth being blown down the street. Sometimes we had to bundle up in the chilling cold. Often, we wore layers and pulled them off as the day got progressively hotter.

Mrs. Schuhmann said that the Lord gave us good weather because He knew we enjoyed that day. She prayed a lot about this fair and I believe her prayers counted when you add up the success factors for this fair.

We have managed to have the fair in spite of the iffy nature of weather in November. More than once, we have had good weather on Fair Day...only to wake up the next morning to a bone-chilling cold weather change from the day before.

And where do we go from here? Let’s hope that Bloomburg’s Country Fair is never again victimized and shut down by a pandemic. Let’s pray for the continuation of the love of small towns with big festivals. That’s us. I’m so proud to still be here to see the fair up and running again. Lord, help us once again to have a good, friendly and safe Fair Day.