98 
WISCONSIN HORTICULTURE 
March, 1917 
A Village Fair 
MRS. GEO. MOORE, EAST MILWAUKEE. 
When the East Milwaukee Civic 
Association was considering how it 
might best serve the Community, it 
was suggested that a “Village 
Fair'’ was one of the ways in 
which a community spirit might 
be developed. We had had a very 
happy Christmas and were eager 
to follow up the impression made 
at that time. We read with inter- 
est of “flower shows”, “fruit 
shows”, and all sorts of “shows”, 
and we felt that we too, could 
make a contribution te> the great 
movement of “getting together in 
the interest of all that helps the 
cause of democracy.” Does this 
seem a very ambitious ideal for a 
village fair? I am very sure that 
in the early stages we did not con- 
sciously formulate so large a pro- 
gram. Organized in the right 
spirit for the- common welfare, 
those enterprising men who called 
us together, we who responded, did 
build a society that has within 
itself such a possibility. It is an 
example of what the coming to- 
gether of ordinary folk may mean. 
The individual ineffectual, united 
in purpose with his kind, mighty. 
So much energy goes astray for 
the lack of co-operation in dis- 
tricts where one’s next door neigh- 
bor is a stranger. Does it seem too 
much to hope that as people group 
themselves more and more, as they 
are doing in country and suburban 
center’s, they will come to feel 
themselves united in a common 
cause. 
There still remained an unoc- 
cupied strip with waving corn- 
fields to isolate us from the city 
and its stifling mass. This was our 
chance to develop a community 
consciousness. For a whole year 
“the fair” was the objective point 
toward which we all worked. At 
first it was .just one of the topics 
of conversation, sometimes taking 
precedence over the eternal “heat- 
ing question.” 
On February 11th and 12th we 
held a Community Institute, 
through the kindness of the Ex- 
tension Department of the Uni- 
versity of Wisconsin, and of the 
Horticultural Society. The latter 
generously sent .Messrs. Rasmussen 
and Cranefield, upon whom we are 
glad to place a large share of the. 
responsibility of the success of our 
plans. 
The project was officially 
launched with the following an- 
ncuncement, which appeared upon 
the program, 
“The Institute is the first step 
towards a ‘VILLAGE FAIR’. 
“This will be held early in fall, 
and amateur gardeners will have 
“an opportunity to exhibit their 
cabbages, turnips, etc. the women, 
“their baking and canning, and 
children their school work, and 
vegetables and flowers from their 
gardens,” together with announce- 
ments of lectures, which crowded 
the days with information and in 
spiration. This prelude is to make 
it clear that the Fair of Septem- 
ber 9th and 10th did not spring 
into being fully equipped, but the 
outgrowth of months of prepara- 
tion. I think I have never seen 
so much included in two short 
days. "When I picked up the pro- 
gram among the exhibits at the 
State Fair, I had a little thrill of 
pride that we had really carried it 
through. . 
Rut if we learned how to plant 
a “show” carrot — and by the way 
- — the Chairman of the Fair, upon 
being congratulated upon the 
“blue ribbon” attached to his car- 
rots, confessed that lie had fol- 
lowed Mr. Rasmussen’s directions 
exactly. We did not learn only 
how to plant, but, better still, we 
learned to know cur neighbors and 
to cooperate with them and the 
“community spirit”. Why, you 
just see it grow! 
One of the best things we did at 
the Institute, was to have a “Com- 
munity Cafeteria” in a near-by 
church. It seemed necessary, in 
order to have everybody’s husband 
on hand in time for the lectures, to 
serve supper, and out of this need, 
grew a really indispensable part 
of our Institute. This was man- 
aged by a host of women who had 
never worked together before. 
Many had never even seen each 
other, but they made a success of 
it and paid the expenses of the In- 
stitute. Th? greatest result, how- 
ever, was the good-fellowship that 
developed in the kitchen and at the 
tables. You can’t help speaking 
to your neighbor when you are 
standing in line with him, with a 
tray under your arm, or sitting op- 
posite to him at a small table. 
Those who couldn’t be on hand to 
share the kitchen fun. in their own 
homes concocted the mcst beauti- 
ful baked beans from famous fam- 
ily recipes, until a bushel of beans, 
a:d many formulas, were trans- 
formed into savory dishes that 
stood on the tables and relieved 
the anxiety lest some one go hun- 
gry. Indeed they were so numer- 
ous that the thrifty cooks bought 
them for the Sunday night lunch 
that nothing should go to waste. 
They live in memory and bring a 
smile, to this day. The lectures 
were preceded by “Community 
Singing” and Prof. Dykema as- 
sured us we were a “very musical 
company”, but then, as everybody 
knows, he can make even the tune- 
less sing. We ought to have or- 
ganized a Choral Society. We will, 
some day, but we did form Home 
Economics and Gardeners’ Clubs. 
Mr. Rasmussen and Mr. Crane- 
field came again and our plans 
went on. Incidentally, we learned 
some “cellar gardening”. Then 
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