Tradition runs deep at the Sandwich Fair.
The 132nd edition of the fair opened earlier this week at the fairgrounds on the southern border of DeKalb County in Sandwich, and runs through Sunday.
“The Sandwich Fair has been continuous since 1888. However, our first fair began in 1858 in a different location and with a different name,” Sandwich historian and author Joan Hardekopf said.
Hardekopf did a lot of the research and wrote many of the articles for “The Sandwich Fair Since 1888,” a 326-page book released in 2001 by the Sandwich Fair Association.
There’s a lot of history about the fair, in particular the people and the buildings that date back to the 1800s, she said.
Sandwich resident Diane Pearson has a collection of commemorative Sandwich Fair lapel pins that feature something different about the historic fair each year.
“It’s a remembrance of my time here,” Pearson said.
This year’s collectible pin and fair logo is designed in the image of the Livestock Office located on the west side of the grounds.
The Livestock Office originally was just a roof with a portable scale to weigh animals for the fair. Every building has a story, Hardekopf said.
Hardekopf, 78, has been attending the fair practically all of her life, she said.
“I get energized when I am here,” she said.
Sandwich Fair Association Board President Larry Dannewitz is hopeful the stretch of pleasant weather so far this week will last to bring out the crowds through the weekend.
“The fair began with livestock exhibits and grew,” said Dannewitz, who is in his 30th year with the organization of the fair and eighth year as president. “We have about 23,000 individual entries and there are very few fairs that have anywhere near that.”
In the historic Home Arts Building, shelves on Thursday were filled with hundreds of home-made baked goods and canned fruit for a variety of contests. The building has entries for cross-stitching and knitting projects as well.
Angie Scheel, of Geneva, was admiring the cake entries with her sister Carol Colford of Somonauk on Thursday.
“Our mother’s German plum cake won a first place ribbon at the Sandwich Fair. It’s touching because she’s no longer with us,” Scheel said.
Yoshie Iwasaki was at the fair with her high school friend from Japan, Reimi Kawamoto, along with her husband, Hitoshi Kawamoto.
“This is the first time they are visiting the United States,” Iwasaki said.
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The visitors were taking in all of the features of the event.
“The fair is a nice representation of America,” Reimi Kawamoto said. “We don’t have anything like this in Japan. There are competitions but they are mainly for farmers.”
Lauren McNelis, 15, showed a Holstein dairy cow at the fair Thursday.
“I like caring for the animals. I have been around farm animals my whole life,” the Serena teenager said.
Students from District 204’s Neuqua Valley High School in Naperville were at the fair on a field trip on Thursday.
“We came to experience the differences between rural and suburban life. Farming is truly about family,” freshman Anderson Lynch said.
“The farming community is really a tight-knit group,” freshman Tara Ayer said. “People have known one another for a long time. It’s nice to see the farms. We don’t have any farms in Naperville.”
Wendy Biggs was at the fair as a chaperone for another group from Wheaton North High School.
“The kids are learning how agricultural communities are connected to urban cities and how modernization is changing the farming industry,” Biggs said.
A 45-minute trip from Wheaton has brought the kids to a part of Illinois they may not otherwise visit were it not for the fair, the high school counselor said.
“It’s been a hands-on learning experience,” Biggs said.
A group of ladies were selling homemade slices of pie at the United Church of Sandwich stand at the fest this week. The pie-making stand started decades ago, they said.
“I have been selling pies for my church for 58 years,” said Phyllis Davis, of Sandwich.
Haley Kiest, 26, was having a slice of grape pie at the festival.
“I generally don’t eat sweets but I will have the grape pie,” she said.
The Sandwich Fair is a tradition for her family, she said.
“We like seeing people we haven’t seen in a while,” Kiest said.
Linda Girardi is a freelance reporter for The Beacon-News.