For those of you who do not know me, my name is Alyssa Besser. I am the extension educator for agriculture and natural resources and 4-H youth development in Brown County. Half of my time is spent providing agriculture and gardening learning opportunities for the county, and the other half is supporting the leaders and youth who make up our 4-H program.
I was born and raised in downtown Indianapolis. I attended Emmerich Manual High School, where I became active in an urban FFA chapter. I studied agriculture education at Purdue and later joined the Peace Corps, where for two years I worked with men and women of northern Ghana with rice production and strengthening the value chain.
I had never been to a county fair. I did not grow up raising animals, and I was not active in 4-H. With that being said, I have been in my current position for 18 months now, and I have been shown immense grace by everyone involved in the 4-H community. With two fairs under my belt, I am just now understanding all the minute details that go into making this fair successful.
Our fair, while smaller than most, has an infinite number of moving parts. From the booths in the pavilion, to grandstand events, 4-H shows, food booths, the carnival, open show, etc., every single event takes its own team to make it happen. This fair, this 4-H program, has incredible volunteers, each giving their time, money or skill to help this fair be as great as it is.
On Saturday mornings in the months leading up to the fair, you can find volunteers on the fairgrounds, setting posts, painting gates and doing other odd jobs that may go unnoticed by fairgoers.
If you ventured to the back of the barns this fair season, you might have noticed the new wash racks, poured by volunteers with materials donated by various local businesses. So many of the things that you see around the grounds are products of the generosity of this community. Last year a new food booth was constructed, and a group of dedicated volunteers transformed the old show arena into the rabbit/poultry barn and the rabbit/poultry pole barn into the new show arena.
Sometimes I look around at the people who put so much time and effort into this program and I can see why. Many of them were in the program themselves. They grew up in these barns, they have shown their animals here, they know the lessons learned in the arena, and they know their worth.
I have never been a part of such an amazing group of people, never been a part of an event so great. Fair board members are the last people to leave the fair at night. In the morning, the Keep Brown County Beautiful group comes to keep the grounds clean and beautiful. Boy Scout Troop 190 helped park cars in exchange for half the profits. The Brown County Community Foundation has given money to multiple projects.
The Brown County Fair is a brilliant show of who and what this community is, from the flowers donated by Kelp’s, to the hours put in by individuals. This is an event solely put on by members of this community, to be enjoyed by members of this community. This is the one time a year when we come together as a community for no other reason than to be entertained and to have fun together.
I feel very fortunate to live in this community and be a part of the team that serves such a purpose. Thank you, everyone, for coming out to the fair, for being a supporter of the 4-H program and this 4-H fair. Thank you to the volunteers on the 4-H fair board, the 4-H council and 4-H parents for keeping this fair running smoothly, and paying homage to the great tradition that is the county fair.
Alyssa Besser is the Brown County Purdue Extension educator for agriculture and natural resources and 4-H youth development. She can be reached at 812-988-5495 or [email protected].
