The Northwest Missouri State Fair opens this weekend and with that, I have been taking another look at the Ridgeway fairs. In another article, I wrote about the development of the Ridgeway District Fair which began in 1882. It was a large fair located outside Ridgeway city limits featuring horse racing and livestock exhibits. There were even special trains running so that people from all over the area could attend the fair. Newspapers.com had limited information on the Ridgeway Fair after 1900 until the 1960s. When the fair was first organized, it was operated by the Ridgeway District Fair Association and raised money by selling shares. By the 1960s, the Ridgeway Lions Club operated the fair on the school grounds. There were nightly programs, a carnival and members of 4-H, FHA and FFA exhibited their projects and livestock. In 1964, there was a steam threshing machine and shingle mill demonstrations every afternoon.
I found a really nice article in the St. Joseph News-Press (May 5, 2009) about Lois Selby, the first club leader of the Ridgeway 4-H club. She served as club leader, sewing project leader and fair judge from the club’s start in 1956 until 1985 and continued to volunteer until the club was disbanded in 1995.
