The farm show must go on
CONNOQUENESSING TWP — Although few of the food carts and carnival rides were operating Sunday evening, Aug. 6, dozens of people traveled to the Butler Farm Show Grounds to celebrate the 75th anniversary of an event that started as a plowing competition between a small farming community.
Now, the organizers of the annual Butler Farm Show are looking to the youth, who provide many of the week's livestock and farming activities, to keep the tradition going after 75 years of the event.
Martha Ebersole, president of the Pennsylvania State Fair Association, traveled from Perry County to attend the show’s opening, and said volunteers and youths are the backbone of many fairs across the state.
“It’s awesome to look back there and see all those kids — young adults,” Ebersole said. “Without volunteers — those farmers, those machine owners — without them volunteering, there would be no Butler Farm Show.”
The farm show had its opening ceremony Sunday evening, which in addition to hosting speeches by a number of officials, kicked off the week's events with fireworks and kettle-cooked corn. But Sunday night was an opportunity for the event’s organizers to highlight the significance of the farm show’s 75th anniversary, especially seeing that it began as a plowing competition in a farming community.
Pennsylvania's Secretary of Agriculture Russell Redding spoke at the ceremony, and commended the farm show's administrators for keeping the tradition of honoring farmers going for three-quarters of a century.
