The Strength of a People

Cora, 6, shows her rabbit at the fair

Adding together the attributes that fairgoers bring to the table creates the backbone of Salem County.  

Farmers plowing the fields or milking the cows have demonstrated leadership in Salem County for years.

They sit on the Salem County Agricultural Board. They serve on school boards, as mayors and freeholders.

Working as a newspaper reporter in the late-eighties, I was surprised at my first Quinton Township Committee meeting when Mayor Leon “Jake” Harris pulled into the municipal parking on his green tractor. He came from the field to the meeting before going home for dinner.

Nearby, in Alloway Township it wasn’t unusual to watch Mayor C. Dale Smith conduct the meeting in his black calf high milking boots.

Rural Upper Pittsgrove also has a history of farmers serving on the township committee.  The tradition continues today.

On a County level the Ware family has represented Salem County’s farm community on the Freeholder Board for many years.

The fair also showcases the leadership of local business and industry. The banking industry is well represented at the Salem County Fair. County banks support the community with business start-up and residential loans. Banks donate to local organizations and maintain a presence in the community. 

Many of the County’s bankers and employees serve on non-profit and other county boards.  You can find bankers volunteering. They deliver meals to homebound elderly or help at Ranch Hope.

Educational leaders provide another vertebrae in the backbone of Salem County.  Salem Community College offers many career possibilities for those starting out or for those who are considering a career change.  The fair gives the educational community a forum to reach out to new faces while connecting with old.

Unique in the United States the SCC offers two degrees in glass making, Applied Crafts and Design and Scientific Glassblowing.

The college holds an international flame working conference each year at its Samuel H. Jones Glass Education Center in Alloway Township where glassmaking began.

The Salem County Vocational Technical Schools provides the tools to prepare students for employment and for lifelong learning.  At the fair they reach out to parents and future students.

Another link in the backbone that strengthens the County is volunteers. Volunteers are everywhere at the fair. Volunteers dip ice cream. They sell funnel cake. Volunteers collect at admission.

Volunteers lead 4-H groups. Volunteers judge produce and crafts. They man booths for organizations such as United Way, Meals on Wheels, the Salem County Chamber of Commerce and Red Cross.

Non Profit leaders who stand behind the booths at the fair make a difference in Salem County that many never see.  They quietly run programs that touch lives of residents each and every day.

Since 1988, Save Our Soil has promoted the preservation of farmland. The Salem County Genealogical Society helps maintain our heritage. 

The artistic leadership of the County touches shoulders with the farmers and political leaders who stroll around the fairgrounds. 

Weavers, painters, photographers and crafts persons provide demonstrations from blacksmithing to flame working.  The arms of The Salem County Art League and the Third Star Fibre Artist Guild reach out to bring different mediums of art to those passing their booths.

Tradition is the glue that holds the backbone together. The Salem County Fair is a County tradition, handed down by grandfathers and grandmothers, mothers and fathers.  Katie Sickler, 12, of Alloway Township said that she has been to the fair every year since she was born.  “I’m 12 and I first came here in a stroller she said.  I will bring my children here someday.

Yankee Eller, president of the Salem County Fair Association relaxed with his daughter, Lynn Yakubobski, and granddaughter, Cora, 6, at the fair. A half century ago, Eller was a 4-H member showing animals at the fair.

His daughter, Lynn Yakubobski, said that he passed on the tradition. She too showed farm animals at the fair as a child and now her daughter was showing her rabbit at the Salem County Fair. 

Already the next generation soaks up the traditions of farming, leadership and volunteerism that make Salem County strong.

Fairgoers are teachers, clerks, construction workers, truckers, students, nurses, police officers, firemen, secretaries, electricians and more. They come from many backgrounds.  Many visited the fair as children.  They now bring children and grandchildren.

Volunteers, business leaders, farmers and children participate in many fair events.  There is something for almost everyone, tractor pulls, gas engine shows, pig scrambles, skillet throws, a queen contest, a hand cranked ice cream contest, round robins, kiddie tractor pulls, a largest tomato contest, vegetable judging, canning judging, baked goods judging, Other contests and fireworks keep the T in tradition at the Salem County Fair.

Strength grows in that tradition.  The baby in the stroller, the teenager showing his goats and ducks, the new fair queen, and the 4-H club member washing down her goat or cuddling her rabbit are Salem County’s future.

They watch and learn.  One day, they too will be Salem County’s leaders, its volunteers, its farmers, its educators and its strength.