Reliving the Past at the Du Quoin State Fair

     Back in the early 1960s, our family of five drove the 100 miles southeast from our Olivette home through and to an off-and-on rain.  Our destination was the Du Quoin (IL) State Fair.

     I still remember walking through those closed off streets, going on fun kiddie rides, playing games and eating on the go.  So, when my girlfriend Pam mentioned she wanted to spend just one day away this Labor Day weekend, the choice was a simple one for me.

     This past September 1 got off to a comparable start as the skies alternated mist, drizzle and moderate rain on the first half of our drive.  Luckily, it cleared up for the remainder of the day, including the 7-hour and 15-minute visit back to my early childhood days! But due to motion sickness and eventual direct, intense sunlight, I traded rides and games for memorable entertainment in this true, small town feel event.
                                   

     Entering the main gate at 11 a.m. sharp, we first perused the food booths of Main Street and Grandstand Avenue.  We were immediately concerned with the overabundance of corn dogs, but settled into a picnic table inside an R. Buckminster Fuller designed geodesic dome to eat chili cheese fries and pizza.

     About the pizza…That latter booth offered cricket pizza, mealworm pizza and scorpion pizza.  Yes, they were real dead pieces of those critters.  Nevertheless, Pam opted for the traditional thin crust, non-authentic, fake cheese variety. 

     We then explored the map I had printed out and the schedule Pam printed, then walked back to the Bairds Petting Zoo tent.  The schedule showed it as a 4 p.m. event, but it’s a petting zoo!  Surely, we could enter at any time!  We did and had a blast!

     Although the fair’s people food was definitely overpriced, not so for us actually hand-feeding the animals!  Soooooo much food poured out for every quarter that each hand held enough food for two animals!  With palms up, we were thrilled to feed several goats, donkeys and cows, including the Scottish Highland variety!  
                       

     Our only disappointment for the day was an absolute positive for the fair.  The purpose of the Duck Derby Parade was to sell ducks with money going to the Special Olympics, and to be raced in the Duck Derby Dash just two hours later.  Well, the ducks were completely sold out before the day’s parade even started!  There was still a very short parade featuring a huge yellow duck!
                                                                  
                                                               

     We spent equal time in the Democrat and Republican Party tents and explored a few gift shops. The day’s entertainment also featured four different bands playing a fairly wide gamut of music, but we saved the three best forms of entertainment for the very end! 

     First was the Paul Bunyan Lumberjack Show.  Of course, there were three lumberjacks dressed in red and black checked shirts.  I can’t even remember the man’s name, but his narration was extremely comical as the audience sat in two long bleachers with several dozen others overflowing onto the sides and well behind the bleachers on a slightly shaded hill.

     Perhaps his name was Paul as in Paul Bunyan or Jack as in LumberJACK.  There was no ox named Babe, but two young babes named Gretchen and Anastasia, who for the most part, were locked in competition against one another. There was axe throwing, log rolling, log sawing and log splitting competitions in this “Land of Lincoln” event.
        

     In fact, for the latter, they asked three men from the crowd how long it would take Anastasia to split entirely through a log of about 7-8 inches in diameter.  The first guy guessed two minutes.  I guessed 40 seconds, thinking those people were pretty experienced in this kind of show.  The final guy guessed 90 seconds.  It took Anastasia 55 seconds.  So, I went up there, was interviewed and claimed my large wood chip prize!
            
                                

     Although it appeared to be a rabbit-eared wood item, another parting gift, when turned upside down, was a chair given to a lower grade school girl.  It was chopped by Lumber Jack. Still, the best gift was the silly commentary and play on words from all three performers!

    The next event on our itinerary was experiencing some of the thrills and chills of the world famous Nerveless Nocks.  Created in Switzerland back in 1840, the group is known to have performed death-defying acts in far too many places to note.

     On this afternoon, we observed a version of the Extreme Motorcycle High Wire Aerial Thrill Show with a lady daredevil hanging from a trapeze below a la the famous Flying Wallenda family!  The motorcyclist even turned sideways with the daredevil following suit.  For this and their other acts, they made sure to note, “Don’t try this at home!”
                                                          

     Next, a man in the group stacked up 10 chairs atop one another and stood at the top displaying sensational balance!  Their final act of the day was a lady doing all types of scary balances from a swing below an extremely high parallel bar.  OK. That’s my description of this ‘You Have to See it To Believe It” event!   Visit their web site, https://nervelessnocks.com/, for some more accurate details of their incredible history and all they do!                                          

     We closed out the day with a walk to the extreme northeast section of the fair site for the Whippoorwill Rodeo.  This was quite a thrill for me since the only other rodeo I had ever seen was when I took my son to the Professional Bull Riders event at the St. Charles Family Arena well over 15 years ago.

     Prior to the event, they had a special ceremony that started with a Native or Indigenous American riding out in full headdress.  That was a serious moment, but also brought to mind a t-shirt at one of the fair’s gift shops.  It had labeled photos of Wolf Robe, Red Cloud, Geronimo, Chief Joseph and Sitting Bull under large words that read, “Homeland Security” and atop the words, “Fighting Terrorism Since 1492.”

     Sure enough, the rodeo Indian was followed by a cowboy riding in.  Moments later, there was a lengthy prayer followed by an encouraged sing-a-long of “The National Anthem.”

     The actual radio’s narration was handled by a serious announcer and his comedic but corny sidekick.  They were very descriptive in explaining the rules and scoring details while also poking fun at several of the male and female performers alike.

        
                                                      

     We loved the calf roping, bronco bull riding, barrel races, the overall fast action and even the slapstick humor of the microphoned clown who roamed the infield.  The rodeo itself and the entire 2019 Du Quoin State Fair certainly took me back to earlier, more simple days—WAY back to when I was a very young grade school child!