September, 1951 



THE I. A. A. RECORD 



Page Five 



Thousands Visit Farm Bureau 



^ Tent at Illinois State Fair 



Country Life Queen Contest Feature of 

 Farm Bureau Day 



. •,»:i ' ■■•.\:':.- •'■:'■■;' '■■■ 



NEARLY a thousand Farm Bureau 

 members and their guests assem- 

 bled in the Farm Bureau headquarters' 

 tent at the IlHnois State Fair, Friday, 

 August 28. 



The principal attraction of the day 

 was the style show and beauty contest 

 held early in the afternoon. Miss Fran- 

 ces Johnston, a pretty 17-year-old Law- 

 renceville high school girl, was crowned 

 Country Life Queen, winning over nine 

 other contestants, all of whom had 

 placed first in their respective county 

 contests. 



Miss Johnston, height five feet, 

 weight 104 pounds, is an attractive, 

 blue-eyed brunette with dark chestnut 

 hair. She is an accomplished elocution- 

 ist. Miss Johnston has been appearing 

 on public programs since she was eight 

 years of age, and has given readings over 

 a number of radio stations. The prize 

 of $75 in gold was presented by Senator 

 Simon E. Lantz of Congerville, chair- 

 man of the Committee of Judges. 



? Second Prize $25 ^ ' 



Miss Dorothy Roberts of Champaign 

 county, a University of Illinois co-ed, 

 was awarded the second prize of $25 in 

 gold. Miss Roberts has been active in 

 4-H Club work as a member and leader 

 in her home county for a number of 

 years. She is 20 years old, five feet 

 four inches in height, and weighs 126 

 pounds. Her favorite sports are swim- 

 ming and tennis. 



The other contestants, all attractive 

 girls and winners of their respective 

 county contests, were Eleanor Fer- 

 guson, Henry county; Helen Phillips, 

 Macon county; Ida I. Eppel, McHenry 

 county; Helen Kolmer, Monroe county; 

 Elizabeth Meyer, Morgan county; Sarah 

 Biederbeck, Stark county; Elaine Plott, 

 Union county; and Helen Homann, Ef- 

 fingham county. 



The girls were judged on the follow- 

 ing qualities: grace, poise, simpHcity 

 and attractiveness of dress, charm, in- 

 telligence, self-possession, vivaciousness 

 as well as physical characteristics. 



The contest was staged in a pretty 

 setting on a platform erected for the 

 occasion in front of the colorful I. A. 

 A. exhibits. Each girl was required to 

 mount the platform, walk from one end 

 to the other slowly keeping time with 

 the orchestral music. Each was required 

 to bow, smile and address the judges and 



AliNN FrnnceM Johnnton, %vbo wnn orowned 



Country l^lfe Queen, at State Fair on 



Farm Bureau Day winninii; over nine 



other eontetitantM. 



audience as follows: "How do you do. 

 Honorable Judges, Ladies and Gentle- 

 men. I am delighted to be here and glad 

 to see you." • , . ■ 



The girls all were attractively but 

 simply dressed. Each carried bright 

 gold-colored canes with ribbons bearing 

 the name of the county which they 

 represented. 



Judges of the contest were Senator 

 Simon E. Lantz of Congerville; G. C. 

 Johnstone, Bloomington; L. W. Taylor, 

 manager St. Nicholas Hotel, Springfield; 

 Prof. Stewart of Berea College, Berea, 

 Kentucky; and Dwight Hart, Taylor- 

 ville. 



After the crowning of the queen each 

 of the contestants came to the platform 

 to congratulate her. President Earl C. 

 Smith had previously introduced and 

 presented the judges to the audience. 



The facilities at the Farm Bureau 

 headquarters' tent were enjoyed by 



thousands of members and fair visitors 

 throughout the week. The I. A. A. ex- 

 hibits which were more elaborate than 

 usual illustrated the entire I. A. A.- 

 Farm Bureau program in Illinois. The 

 co-operative marketing exhibit attracted 

 wide attention. 



It included an electrically-driven 

 train which as it moved over a relief 

 map of Illinois, illustrated where the 

 principal farm products are grown over 

 the state. A series of vertical maps of 

 Illinois formed the background. These 

 were illuminated by lights flashing on 

 and off telling the story of the volume 

 of different farm commodities sold co- 

 operatively. Grain, livestock, fluid milk, 

 produce, soybeans, and red top were 

 represented. .:i' ':■,[•:.■ i.'}:-.- :]\, , 



Visualizes Services 



The general I. A. A. exhibit illus- 

 trated the entire Farm Bureau-I. A. A. 

 program. The display artist visualized 

 attractively and effectively the different 

 services made possible to Farm Bureau 

 members through organized effort. Col- 

 ored paper cut-outs mounted in a series 

 of 16 cases electrically lighted from the 

 rear told the story. White letters on 

 theatrical gauze screens across the front 

 of each individual exhibit told the story 

 of each project. v \ 



The Illinois Farm Supply Company 

 had an interesting exhibit in the tent 

 playing up SERVICE petroleum prod- 

 ucts; C. W. Ward, sales representative, 

 was in charge. The Sangamon county 

 4-H Clubs were represented in one cor- 

 ner of the tent with a pop and lunch 

 stand which served hundreds of visitors 

 throughout the week. ;; . 



The attendance at the Fair this year 

 was below normal, although the exhibits 

 of livestock and attractions were equal 

 to, if not better, than in former years. 



During the morning and afternoon 

 the I. A. A. public address system was 

 on hand to entertain the visiting crowds 

 passing through the tent with march 

 and dance music. The new record car- 

 rying a 12 -minute address by President 

 Earl C. Smith was broadcast through 

 the public address system both morning 

 and afternoon. It received much favor- 

 able comment by those who listened. 



In answer to requests by many who 

 asked for copies of the address it is re- 

 produced in this issue of the RECORD. 



"I wish to congratulate you upon 

 your splendid article: *Is Farm Or- 

 ganization Worth the Effort?' ap- 

 pearing in the August issue of the 

 Dairyman's Journal. The cartoon 

 on page eight of the same maga- 

 zine is exactly the kind of adver- 

 tising that gets over with the pros- 

 pect." 



O. D. Brissenden, 

 Livingston county, Illinois. 



