Celebrating History: The fair was back

By Emily Mayer

Excitement was building for the revival of a county fair for Hill County this week 100 years ago. The businessmen of the community worked together and many contributed to the effort. Donations ranging from $100.00 to $5.00 show this commitment to the community and its economy. R. G. Linebarger, editor of The Havre Daily Promoter, again published an editorial regarding the effort. This was printed in the Aug. 17, 1924, edition:

THE COUNTY FAIR

The response that has greeted the committee in charge of plans for holding a county fair in Havre, make it certain the fair will be held in October. With the money appropriated by the county, the sum raised yesterday among the local business men and the amount it is expected to raise during the coming week, there will be sufficient to take care of the expenses.

Farmers should get busy right away gathering their products for exhibition and no work should be spared to make the fair a most successful exhibition of the products of Hill county

The dates chosen for the fair were Oct. 9, 10 and 11, 1924. At the time, the committee was focused on exhibits and where to display them. It will be interesting in the coming two months to see how everything came together for the revived fair.

The fair wasn’t the only excitement being generated in Havre. Two weeks prior, General John Pershing had announced his forced retirement on his 64th birthday, which was September 13. In his final weeks, he was busy preparing for Defense Day ceremonies throughout the country, and Havre was joining in. This article was published in the Aug. 20, 1924, Daily Promoter:

HAVRE LEGION POST BACKS DEFENSE DAY

A large number of American Legion and ex-service men attended the regular feed and smoker meeting which was held last evening at 8 o’clock at the Elks hall.

The local boys decided to cooperate with the committee in charge of the affair for the holding of the National Defense day program with is September 12 and went on record as favoring the proper observance of the day. The post also promised to lend its services in making the day a success.

The Havre post will sell chances on a rail road return trip ticket complete with berth accommodations to the American Legion National convention which convenes in St. Paul, Minn., September 15. All members of the Legion and ex-service men are eligible to purchase the chances which will be sold for 25 cents each. No limit is placed on the number a person may buy and in case the lucky ma is unable to attend he may give his ticket to one of his friends providing he is also a member of the Legion or an ex-service man.

Membership in the local post is growing steadily with each meeting and a large number of candidates became members of the Legion at their meeting last evening.

Another event people were looking forward to was the annual golf tournament. This announcement was published in the Aug. 21, 1924, Daily Promoter:

ANNUAL GOLF CLUB TOURNAMENT IN SEPTEMBER

The first week in September has been tentatively set as the time for the holding of the annual Havre Golf club championship match to which all golfers in the city who are members of the local club are eligible to compete in.

The match this year will be of a handicap match play nature and 36 holes will be required to decide the city champion for the year 1924. Players will keep the score of the first 18 holes and the highest half will qualify for the championship round and at the conclusion of this the handicaps will be deducted from the scores and the player having the lowest card for the full 36 holes will be in the championship. In case of a tie another 18 hole match will be played.

The club will start immediately to prepare the course for the championship match by cutting the grass and weeds and rolling the greens which at the present time are not in the best of condition. Hole and distance flags will be reset and everything possible done for a most successful tournament.

Players who wish to compete in the play should turn in at once to S. Larson at the Havre Commercial company or George Wilson at the Havre Promoter the lowest five scores they have made in play this year as the handicap committee is to start work at once computing the handicaps. The handicap cards do not require the signature of a witness for it is doubtful if many of the members have kept their cards.

It’s that time of year for canning. It’s great to know so many still can fruits, vegetables and meats, although the numbers are not as prolific as years past. I grew up in a home where my mother canned lots of vegetables and fruits. Her hot water bath canner would be out mid-June, when she thinned out beets and other vegetables. She canned all kinds of pickled vegetables, then when she was done, it was time for the berries to ripen. We picked gallons of berries and Mom would make jams, jellies, syrups and can Juneberries whole so we could enjoy Juneberry pie in the winter. After she got done with the berries, it was time for grocery stores to have fruits such as pears, plums and peaches in bulk. I haven’t seen that in many years. Then the garden vegetables would be harvested and that huge project kept Mom canning for weeks.

It isn’t often that recipes were printed in the Daily Promoter, so for all you canners, I thought you would enjoy these two recipes that were published in the Aug. 22, 1924, newspaper:

TO CAN BEANS

String Beans and Wax Beans-Wash, string, leave whole or break in uniform pieces. Blanch 5 to 10 minutes or until the pod will bend without breaking. Cold dip, drain well and pack into hot jars. Add salt and cover with boiling water. Loosely seal and sterilize two hours in boiling water. Tighten covers, invert to test seal and cool.

TO CAN CORN

Select tender juice sweet corn at the best stage for table use and can as soon as possible after gathering. Remove husks and silk; blanch tender ears 5 minutes, older ears 10 minutes. Cold dip and cut from cob. Pack into hot sterilized jars. As corn swells during sterilization, leave a space of 1 inch at the top. Add salt and cover with boiling water. Be sure water penetrates through the corn to bottom of jar. Loosely seal and sterilize 3 hours in boiling water. Remove, tighten cover, invert to test seal and cool.

Of course, use non-iodized salt for your canning. Iodized salt was a brand-new thing 100 years ago, so the distinction hadn’t been made yet. Earlier this year, an article was published about the history of iodized salt. The article, titled “How the Arrival of Iodized Salt Changed America” was published in the Washington Post.