The Sandwich Fair, which runs through Sunday at the fairgrounds at 15730 Pratt Road in Sandwich, has been a tradition for generations.
This year’s fair is the 135th edition, having been first held in 1888.
“This is an old-fashioned fair,” John Manny of Geneva said while he and his wife Luanne admired the home-grown vegetables in the Horticulture Building at the fairgrounds on the fair’s opening day on Wednesday. “We have been coming for years.”
Sandwich Fair Association Board President Larry Dannewitz said the fair is all about having a good time.
“We appreciate seeing people getting together and having fun,” he said.
Dannewitz began working at the fair in 1988 just to help out. He’s been on the board since 1993 and president since 2012.
One of the upgrades to the fairgrounds has been the renovation of an original ticket booth at Gate B. The white- and red- trimmed building is one of the original structures at the site which sat dormant for years, he said.
“The ticket booth was built in the 1870s. We moved the building to the east side and refurbished it from the ground up. It’s absolutely beautiful,” Dannewitz said.
Longtime fair volunteer Mary Rohrer said “the ticket booth is a piece of history when there were horse and buggies.”
Karen Breunig is one of the volunteers who greet visitors at the Information and Souvenir Gazebo at the fair. This year’s featured souvenir is a custom-made Rowe pottery croc from Cambridge, Wisconsin.
“When we started the Gazebo in 1993, we had Rowe pottery for several years but then we weren’t able to get unique pieces for the fair,” Breunig said.
The fair volunteers turned to another company for a while and returned to Rowe this year, she said.
“What’s unique about Rowe pottery is that the features are hand-painted. Collectors are excited that we went back to Rowe,” she said.
Like many, the historic fair is in Breunig’s blood.
“Coming to the Sandwich Fair runs in the family,” Breunig said.
Her late father, Wiley Updike, began his volunteer years as a gate guard at the grandstand and eventually worked himself up to president of the Sandwich Fair Board. Her 92-year-old mother Nancy Updike still volunteers at the Sandwich Fair History Museum, and Breunig’s husband and son work the fair as well.
“Generations of families are involved in the fair,” Breunig said.
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Gabby and Adam Sorensen of Ottawa perused through the 1905 Home Arts Building with their sons Ryder, 6, and Tanner, 4, on the fair’s opening day on Wednesday.
“The fair is a tradition for our family. We enjoy talking to people and trying the fair food,” Gabby Sorensen said.
Fair food this year includes fried Oreos, elephant ears, corn dogs and bacon cheddar fries among a wide variety of options.
Karen Monkemeyer and her two sisters-in-law, Pam and Penny Monkemeyer, were back as superintendents of the Junior Foods and Open Foods and Canning Divisions at the fair where hundreds of people submitted entries for purple and blue ribbons in a wide range of categories.
“We are up in numbers in the canning category. It’s the most we have had in five years,” Karen Monkemeyer said.
It is a sign that people are returning to home-grown food, Monkemeyer said.
“People are getting to having bigger gardens. They want to know where their fruits and vegetables come from,” she said. “We are also seeing a lot more backyard chickens.”
Renee Moutraya has missed only a few fairs since her childhood. She and her husband, Jim, are staying in a camper on the fairgrounds site.
“I love the lights and energy at the fair,” Renee Moutraya said. “We see people that we haven’t seen in years. It’s like a reunion.”
Linda Girardi is a freelance reporter for The Beacon-News.