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Jolly Jack Fair Efforts May 2: Fair owes volunteers great debt

Howdy folks. With this year’s Rock Creek and Boundary Fall Fair theme of “Powered by Volunteers.”

Howdy folks. With this year’s Rock Creek and Boundary Fall Fair theme of “Powered by Volunteers” I thought I’d dust off the pencil again and share some of the stories of the people who worked so hard over the many years that the fair has been running.

These are the folks who we all owe a debt far greater than we could ever pay back. They sacrificed their time and sweat to make sure the Fair and grounds were here for the current generation to enjoy and literally built everything from the ground up. This is the 68th annual Fair in Rock Creek but the event actually started long before that.

During the lead up to the second world war things were put on hold in the Boundary, much like they were everywhere else, but in 1946 it was brought back in high form.

That year the Fair was a one-day event held on Oct. 4, 1946 and saw 1,000 people attend despite the steady drizzle of rain. It had been some twenty years since the last fair and it was highly successful.

The fair was sponsored by the Rock Creek Farmer’s institute and financed by public donation from generous area residents. The Fall Fair committee at that time was headed by president J.V. Acland of Rock Creek, Secretary R.E. Norris, Treasurer W.E. Hatton and a dozen hard working members.

There were around 150 events and classes including a men’s and lady’s tug-of-war and a lady’s nail hammering competition! I wonder how many ladies we’d get out today if we brought that event back? The festivities concluded with a successful dance in the old Farmer’s Institute Hall, which most of you probably know as the Christian Valley Service building today.

Since then a steady supply of dedicated volunteers has worked hard to make sure the Fair continued to be held and that the grounds are here for everyone to use today.

From now until September I’d like to share more stories of these fine volunteers as we look forward to celebrating this year’s Fair in their honor.

If you have any stories about the Rock Creek and Boundary Fall Fair and its many volunteers you’d like to share just drop me a note at jollyjack1861@gmail.com.