By Richard Shank
Shank’s Scoop
Next week, we launch the month of June slightly more than three months in advance of the start of the 2026 Kansas State Fair.
In the meantime, combines will roll across Kansas’ wheat fields harvesting this year’s crop of the golden grain. And the next month, we will pause to celebrate the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence. The deliberations in Philadelphia on July 4, 1776, signaled the founding of the greatest nation on earth.
Since we will be talking about history during June, it prompted this observer to research the origin of fairs, since Hutchinson, for the past 113 years, has been home of the official Kansas State Fair.
Actually, if you want to get into trivia, the first known fair for North America was held in Nova Scotia in 1765 and continues to this day.
It comes as no surprise that fairs in America saw their inception early in the nation’s history.
From my research, state fairs started as agricultural gatherings. Early in the 19th century, fairs showcased livestock and agricultural innovations. Soon thereafter, carnival rides were added, along with live entertainment. And, don’t forget, fairs have always offered multiple dining options, some healthy and others unhealthy, but no one has to leave with an empty stomach. So we could say traditions that started 200 years ago regarding fairs remain intact.
In 1841, New York held the nation’s first state fair in Syracuse. Eight years later, Michigan got into the act, hosting the second state fair in Detroit.
Throughout their existence, state fairs adapted to unforeseen circumstances, including war and economic downturns. During the Great Depression, fairs cut expenses in order to survive. And during World War II, fairgoers were urged to purchase war bonds.
In times of war, the military needed scrap metal to produce everything from guns to tanks. During World War II, President Franklin D. Roosevelt put out a call for Americans to donate their scrap metal. So, during the early 1940s, farmers could be seen arriving at the Kansas State Fair with pickup loads of iron and metal to aid the war effort.
The only states that do not host a state fair are Rhode Island and Connecticut.
As we know, the first official Kansas State Fair was held in Hutchinson in September 1913. From what is written, Hutchinson was picked following a contentious debate at the Kansas Legislature.
The success of the first 112 State Fairs is a reaffirmation that those pioneer lawmakers, with a lot of push from Hutchinson’s State Sen. Emerson Carey, made a wise choice in picking the Salt City as the permanent home of the Kansas State Fair. Following the final vote in the Kansas Senate, it is reported that Carey sent a note to a senator from Topeka, (who came in second in the voting) wishing him continued success with his county fair.
A recent drive through the fairgrounds is proof that no one is standing still, with multiple enhancements to buildings and grounds in progress.
This week, we paused to observe Memorial Day, an annual tribute to more than 1.2 million American veterans who paid the extreme sacrifice to preserve our nation’s freedom and democratic form of government.
The other day, I stopped at Mount Calvary Cemetery near Solomon, where my parents and a brother are interred. It was a peaceful May day as a veteran’s group was circling the cemetery, placing flags on the graves of veterans, which was a significant number.
I stopped at the graves of John and Bernard O’Grady, twin brothers who were barely 25 when killed in action five weeks apart in the summer of 1944.
The O’Grady twins grew up on a farm barely a stone’s throw to the southwest of Solomon. Standing at their graves with the military-issued grave markers listing John as a staff sergeant and Bernard as a sergeant, I could not imagine the grief their families endured during that distant time, 82 summers ago. During my formative years, I remember my mother talking about the O’Grady twins and, in particular, around Memorial Day.
Their loss is a sterling example of why we, as a nation, observe Memorial Day each year.
As a pundit was heard to say, “We should not just honor our war dead on Memorial Day, but on every day of the year.”
Richard Shank is a retired AT&T manager and external representative for Hutchinson Regional Medical Center. He can be reached at shankr@prodigy.net or by calling 620-664-1517.