Fair enough: Annual event has solidified the Flathead for 111 years
<p>Mrs. Earl S. Smith of Route 4, Kalispell, was named the 1965 Lady of the Valley in a contest sponsored by the Northwest Montana Fair. At the time she had been a 4-H leader for 18 years and had filled all offices of the Montford-Egan Home Demonstration Club as well as the Egan Community Club.</p>
<p>Touching the prized produce on display was a no-no in bygone days, as this sign suggests.</p>
Not many local events have had the staying power of the Northwest Montana Fair and Rodeo.
At 111 years old, the annual county fair is the area’s longest-running communitywide event and still ranks among the top social events of the season. This year’s fair opens Wednesday and continues through Sunday.
While lots of events such as “mutton’ bustin’” and pig wrestling have been added through the years, and some major attractions such as horse racing have been sidelined, at its core the fair still is everything its early-day visionaries hoped it would become — a community gathering to showcase the best of the Flathead, from fruits to flowers, and to have a lot of fun doing it.
As the newly organized Flathead Fair Association contemplated the schedule for that first fair in 1902, there was both local and national news competing for headlines.
Drilling for oil had reached 400 feet at Kintla Lake.
Kalispell Mayor Logan had “directed the chief of police to confine the sporting women of the town to a certain district, and to keep them on their good behavior when on the street,” the Inter Lake reported.
President Teddy Roosevelt was injured when his coach was struck by an electric car while traveling, just a year after assuming office following the assassination of President William McKinley.
The fair association plowed ahead with horse racing, offering the first round of races in July 1902, months before the actual fair would be staged in October. Heavy rains forced organizers to reschedule the races, and then continued bad weather compelled them to cancel the races entirely, though local and visiting jockeys cobbled together their own unofficial impromptu races.
The first directors of the Flathead Fair Association were a who’s who of early-day leaders in Kalispell, including W.C. Whipps, M.D. Baldwin, J.C. O’Neill and W.A. Conrad.
Horse racing was rescheduled for the October fair, and a call went out for exhibits of stock, grain, vegetables, poultry, farm products and “fruits of every description raised here.”
There was rain at the first fair, but apparently it didn’t last long or dampen spirits. Crowds swelled over the weekend, and by the time all was said and done, the gate and other receipts amounted to more than $2,000, a sum sufficient to pay all the bills.
An Inter Lake story declared: “It Was A Success.”
A 1903 fair premium book featured a Great Northern Railway advertisement noting the fairgrounds were opposite the railway’s roundhouse. It told of special fares from Troy, Havre and Great Falls for those wanting to travel to Kalispell for the fair.
Fair Association President M.D. Baldwin announced numerous improvements at the second annual fair, including a “fine pavilion, additional stock sheds, good quarters for poultry and pet stock, the best race track in the state and the best of water piped into the grounds from the city water works.”
Many of the exhibits entered in 1903 were the same as today’s fair, including sewing, cooking and livestock. But there was also a division for home manufacture and mechanics. Awards were given to the best display of wagons and buggies, the best set of double harness and the best book printing. One day of the fair was set aside for baseball games and athletic sports.
Horse racing was an integral part of the fair for several decades, starting in the inaugural year. The 1903 fair book outlines five full days of “speed programs and sports,” and the stakes were high. A free-for-all with mile heats awarded $250 to the winner, while a half-mile dash event gave $50 to the first-place winner. Much to the chagrin of horse-racing enthusiasts, races are no longer part of the fair lineup, despite local efforts to keep it going.
By 1951, the Inter Lake still was declaring the fair a “big success.” It was held in September in those days. Then-Fair Manager Harry Kilpatrick said the 1951 fair was financially the most successful held yet, and on Thursday of that particular fair week, attendance soared to 12,000 people.
“Just about every club, organization and farm group took part in the event at one time or another,” the Inter Lake reported. “Business houses in Kalispell closed their doors one afternoon to allow employees to visit the fairgrounds.”
In 1966, the fair was continuing to gain momentum, and once again the newspaper stated: “Officials call event highly successful.” The fair had moved to its current time slot, running the third week in August.
The Harmonicats entertained for the 1966 night show. Wind and rain didn’t stop the fair parade from its typical Friday morning run.
The Inter Lake reported a mishap at the fair in ’66, saying “opening day was not all bliss.” Two boys started a combine on display at the grounds and ran it amok, causing about $2,500 worth of damage to nearby farm machinery. No one was injured, including the juvenile delinquents.
Fast-forwarding to 1995, fair attendance had grown to 48,685. Ticket sales at the gate were $37,725, and 11,265 people attended three days of rodeo action. The betting handle for three days of horse racing was $157,322. Arlene Knutson of Kalispell had an outstanding exhibit in 1995: a 6-foot-long needlepoint cruise ship sized for glamour doll Barbie and her beau, Ken.
Jumping ahead to the new millennium, the fair has continued to grow steadily overall, though attendance at some individual events has waned now and again. Last year, fair officials counted 78,508 people attending the five-day event. Rodeo attendance was down about 4 percent from the previous year, with 10,404 people watching three nights of rodeo in 2012. The demolition derby attracted 2,322 spectators, compared to 4,135 in 2009.
The Inter Lake published an editorial in anticipation of the second fair in 1903, saying “the fair should be something more than an occasion for bringing a crowd together and amusing it.
“We have been too much a collection of people; it is time for us to be cemented into a community. A common pride in the county’s present, and a common faith in its future, will help toward that end. ... And when you make a man proud of his home, you have taken a long step toward making him a better citizen,” the editorial continued.
More than a century later, those prophetic words appear to still hold true as county residents once again prepare to gather for a fair that aims to bring out the best in the Flathead’s people and products.
Features editor Lynnette Hintze may be reached at 758-4421 or by email at lhintze@dailyinterlake.com.