In the center spotlight, the search is on for anyone and everyone who ever volunteered or participated in any way, shape or form at the Warren County Fair since the first fair was held in 1958.

All past fairgoers, young and old, are welcome - especially those who have photos or memorabilia to share. Especially needed are the reminiscences of 4-Hers, Home Demonstration Club members and others who competed at the Fair over the years, as well as former entertainers and exhibitors and former members of the now defunct Jaycees - the Fair's original organizers - and the Warren County Fair Association.

Anyone with any fond memories of the Fair is asked to contact Mary Helen Loftin, Benjamin H. Weddle or John F. Ewell, who have formed an ad hoc committee to develop a history of the fair after they and Fair Association officers realized last year that no official history of the Fair exists.

Loftin, Weddle and Ewell have compiled a list of about 65 people they have identified who are still alive and who were associated with the fair in its early years.

"We are sending a letter out [this week] to those people, asking them to help us by writing their own history and memories and sending them to us, or recording them on tape," said Ewell, who was a member of the Front Royal-Warren County Jaycees and the vice chairman of the first Warren County Agricultural and Industrial Fair, held Sept. 1-6, 1958.

"We're certain there are more people out there who have information of value," said Weddle. He was Warren County's Agricultural Agent for the Virginia Cooperative Extension at the time and chairman of the fair's first agricultural committee.

"We'd like to hear from everyone who has something to share - whether they won a ribbon or just attended the Fair as spectators," said Loftin. Her late husband, Gene Loftin, was president of the Jaycees when the first fair was held and the person who, according to Ewell, pressed steadfastly forward with the idea for two years until he persuaded the skeptical Jaycees to take it on as a project.

Gene Loftin worked at American Viscose at the time, and persuaded the company to allow the first fair to be held on the lot where the Soccerplex is now being developed.

"It rained hard the day before the Fair opened," Mary Loftin recalled. "We had to bring all the exhibits in and set them up that night, and we worked in the rain and ground was like one big muddy river."

Weddle also recalled that night.

"Someone said it was like crossing the Rio Grande," he said, laughing.

Loftin remembered that Oliver Stoneburner of Stoneburner Carter Insurance came out in the pouring rain and volunteered to help - even though he was neither a Jaycee nor an Extension employee.
"He just wanted to come out and help and seemed to have such a good time," she said.

The first three fairs were held at American Viscose, and there were no permanent facilities. Each year, the Jaycees erected a large tent for exhibitions and a separate tent for livestock competitions. There was also a fairground with other tented attractions and a carnival.

The Fair's present 20-acre site was purchased in May 1961, at a cost of $500 per acre, according to Ewell. The note was co-signed by Jim Williams, the Jaycees' president for 1960-61, and Ewell, the Jaycees' president for 1961-62.

Once the property was purchased, the Jaycees erected the present-day Quonset hut building - jokingly referred to as the Wonder Building because people wondered what it was. It is still known by that name today.

The Jaycees sponsored the Fair until 1987, when the organization folded and the property was deeded to the newly formed Warren County Fair Association, which now runs the event each year.

This year will be the Fair's 49th consecutive year, and as it nears its Golden Anniversary in 2007, both Ewell and Fair Association President Joye Wood felt the time had come to put together a complete history of the event.

"The Fair Association has done a good job of documenting the Fair from 1987 to the present," Ewell said, "but there is very little we can find about the Fair's early years."

Only three copies of the Fair's annual catalog, listing all the exhibition and competition categories and prizes, have been located - including one copy of the catalog from the first Fair in 1958.

That's why Ewell, Weddle and Loftin are hoping others with fond memories of the Fair will come forward to share their reminiscences so they can be recorded.

The Warren Heritage Society is also helping with the project. On Feb. 15, 16 and 17, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., archivist Judith Pfiefer will interview and record on tape anyone who has memories to share about the Fair. Those who cannot come to the Laura Virginia Hale Archives - located in the rear of the Belle Boyd Cottage behind Ivy Lodge at 101 Chester St. - should call the archives at 636-1446 to set up an appointment with Pfiefer.

Those with interesting stories to share are also urged to contact Loftin at 635-3514, Weddle at 635-9059, or Ewell at 635-2250.

Editor's note: This is the first of a three-part series on the history of the Warren County Fair.

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