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Group effort gets tasks finished at a county fair

By LINDA McGURK
Indiana Correspondent

WILLIAMSPORT, Ind. — In Warren County, it takes a village – or more accurately, several villages – to put on a fair. That holds especially true in the food building, where volunteers from each of the county’s 12 townships take turns flipping burgers, taking orders and cleaning up the kitchen.

“It’s a whole, big group effort,” said Tina Million, food building manager. “We have people from all age groups volunteer.”
June 16, the fair’s opening day, workers from Adams and Pine townships were scheduled to help with breakfast, lunch and the special evening meal, a hog roast sponsored by local business Prairie’s Edge. As the hog was cooking outside, Million and her crew enjoyed a few quiet minutes between lunch and the evening meal.
“I think I’ve been working at least 12 hours per day to get everything ready,” she said. “Last year I lost my voice after the fair, because I was talking so much.”

For Teri Morris, a teacher of Pine Village, Ind., food building duty has been an annual tradition since her oldest daughter joined 4-H nine years ago. “We did pretty well today,” she said about the lunch rush, when she helped serve Beef Manhattan to hungry fairgoers.

Morris decided to volunteer as a way to contribute to the fair. “They always need hands on the deck, otherwise they only have three people that are paid to do it and that’s not enough when they’re busy,” she said. “I think it works out pretty well. The more people you have the better it is.”

Traditionally, local businesses and organizations have contributed whole teams of workers to help serve the breakfast, and the past few years they’ve started helping out with the evening meal, as well.

“A lot of groups have done it for many years, and it’s a wonderful thing to do,” said Jean Akers, Warren County extension educator.
Million added, “I think it’s really good advertising for the business if they have people that are willing to donate their time. They always have a smile on their face, even when things get a little hectic.”
During busy times, anywhere from 8-20 volunteers are working in the food building, alongside a few paid workers.

“Some families have made it a tradition to come,” Akers said.
She acknowledged that finding volunteers has become a little more difficult in a time when both parents usually work outside the home, but bringing in businesses has helped make up for changing family structures. And individuals who are unable to donate their time can always help boost the cash flow in the food building by donating a homemade pie or two.

On most days, the food building sells 250-300 of the special evening meals, except for Thursday’s Fish Night, which is usually the busiest night of the fair.

“Last year we served 1,000 meals over a three-hour period,” Million said. “We have people who don’t usually come to the fair come just for the fish fry.”

The profits from the food sales go toward the 4-H programs and for upkeep of the fairgrounds. Akers wasn’t sure how much money would be raised this year.

“It varies from year to year, there’s not one amount,” she explained. “It depends on the weather and the economy. We just appreciate everybody that comes and supports the food building.”

7/1/2009