By CINDY LADAGE
Illinois Correspondent

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. — The Illinois State Fair concluded on Aug. 23, capping the 2009 theme “An All-American Fair.”

Tradition mixed with a few new ideas for the 2009 event. The ever popular butter dairy cow exhibit showed a young Abraham Lincoln resting near the cow after splitting rails. Artist Sharon Buman created the butter cow and Abe that visitors from across the state were able to see in the historic Dairy Building, built in 1903.

Using Lincoln as part of the theme was fitting this year since Springfield and other Land of Lincoln sites are celebrating his 200th birthday.

The fair, like many other events, creates its own memorabilia so it is no surprise to find an Illinois State Fair Museum foundation. The fair has been operational since 1853 and the foundation was established in 2006; its goal is to promote awareness and understanding of the history of the state fair.

This year the museum display was under the grandstand. The foundation hopes to create a permanent site and construct its own building eventually to house the wide array of memorabilia it has accumulated over the fair’s 150-year history. The first fair was held in Springfield, when it only cost 50 cents to attend.

In the early days, the state fair did not remain in Springfield, but moved from city to city for the next 40 years. According to Illinois State Fair history, the 10th anniversary of the fair fell during the Civil War and was cancelled. It was preempted again in 1893 when Chicago held the World’s Fair.

After that, the fair remained in Springfield and building a state fairgrounds began soon afterwards. The fair encompasses 366 acres and runs for 10 days.

Sandy Thorton of Springfield is one of the volunteers who helped clean and set up exhibits in the museum area this year. Asked her favorite item in the State Fair collection, Thorton said, “Our 1853 award. It is our oldest award; it is a first Premium award.”
While the 1863 card is the oldest memorabilia, an article that appeared in the local Springfield paper, The State Journal Register, was the newest piece added.

“We all work as volunteers,” Thorton said. “Pam Gray is the director and my sister Betty and daughter Bobbi all helped this year.”
On Saturday night before the grandstand show got rolling, Miss Illinois County Fair Queen Morgan Metz was asked her favorite thing to do at this year’s state fair. “I won the Fair Factor, which is like the show Fear Factor,” she replied.

When asked just what she had to do to win, she wouldn’t say except that it involved worms and “was gross.”

Metz is a former Sangamon County Fair queen and the daughter of Craig and Lynne Metz of Springfield. While this summer has been a whirlwind, when not serving as Queen, she has been pursuing a degree in marketing and entrepreneurship at the University of Dayton in Ohio.

Mike and Rose Hammitt of Salisbury came to town to hear James Otto, Kelly Pickler and Montgomery Gentry. “I liked Kelly Pickler,” Rose said, though her husband preferred Otto’s mellower tunes.
The fair is, as well, about the food and exhibits. One exhibit new to this year’s show was the life-sized palms made of rust-resistant metal. “Palms are designed with stainless steel and copper,” Kevin Crouch shared. “All are designed by Wendall Turner of Andover, Kansas.”

There were also vintage antique tractors. A variety of brands were represented along with one beautiful Ford truck that held a JD LI on its bed. Carl Davis had two JD lawn and garden tractors, as well.
The last day of the fair, tractors were loaded up and headed out as it drew to a close, the collectors sad to see another chapter of summer come to an end.