Washington County Agriculture Days
1988 – 2019
“Ag Days Thorough The Years”
Since 1988 Agriculture Days have been held at a local venue every year in March.
In 1988, Don Gardner who was Commodity Chairman for the Washington County Farm Bureau was doing research for Commodity Marketing ideas. He came across information on displaying commodities in your county, through sharing these ideas with the Farm Bureaus Women’s Committee the Washington County Ag Days began with 21 tables at the local mall. Our craft exhibits have included corn husk dolls, ceramics, chair caning, and basket weaving. Beautiful quilts have been on display along with wool spinning and items made by using the wool from llamas, alpacas, and sheep. Demonstrations during the event help to show the public how these items are made and what goes into this process.
In 1990, the Washington County Commissioners presented a Proclamation to the Association recognizing March 16 and 17, 1990 as Agriculture Days and adopted the program theme “Honoring America’s Providers” as the County’s salute to the Farmers and their families.
When we first started, we didn’t think that anyone could have thought how big this weekend would be. The event parking lot is filled to capacity on this weekend. We welcome everyone, as long as they have an Agricultural base and are tied to the Agricultural Community.
Throughout the years we have had to move from the Washington Mall, where we started, to the Washington Crown Center due to the closing of the Washington Mall. In 2017 we did not have Ag Days due to conflicts. In 2018 we moved the event to the Washington County Fairgrounds, the extensive space has given us plenty of room to grow!
We are fortunate to continue to have the support of the local Commissioners, the Legislators, and most importantly the local businesses. All of this support helps us to continue to bring Agriculture into the mall and to continue a mission that was started 30 years ago by a group of women and continued today.
In 2014 we lost the Chairperson of the Ag Days Committee. We dedicate future events to Nadene Gardner. Her belief and dedication can never be replaced.
The committee’s goal is to continue to reach out to the public and make every effort to educate the public about Agriculture. We hope to expand the event to include more Animals for hands on experiences, more machinery, more demonstrations and activities to entice more visitors to come and share the wealth of knowledge and items that Washington County has to offer.
Overview of past and present events
Our 4 H and FFA clubs have provided us with an assortment of displays and demonstrations over the years, some of which are roping, petting zoos, public speaking, musical entertainment, and sharing information about their specific group. The 4 H Clubs also use this weekend as a fundraiser and offer a long list of food items to eat at the event or baked goods to take home as a snack later.
Many of our educational displays also have local items for sale, such as maple syrup, wine, fudge, and honey. It is very interesting to see a honey comb and then sitting next to it a jar of honey. All of these displays help the general public get a better understanding of how the food they eat makes it to their table. We also have several tables with decorations, stuffed animals, clothing, and items that are of interest to the public and made possible because of agriculture.
We have had Leader Dog and Sheep Dog displays to show the training and work that goes into teaching a dog to help lead a person, or to round up the sheep at a working farm.
Our Farm Machinery dealers bring in several different pieces of equipment to display and show the public. A large tractor always wins the heart of the young and old. The local dealers bring in lawn equipment, outdoor wood stoves, and we have the most beautiful flowers and plants from local nursery’s and greenhouses. Several of the companies give away samples of the fruit, vegetables and items that they bake and sell at their booth.
We have had several pens, donated by a local fence company, of animals for the public to see and pet that have included llamas, alpacas, pigs, dairy cows, beef cows, sheep, goats, miniature horses, and chickens just to name a few. Several of our local farmers take the time out of their busy work day to bring these animals for everyone to see.
The local Cattlemen’s group has held an “Old Fashion Apple Pie” Contest to raise money for their groups Scholarship Grant that is given out once a year to eligible applicants. There are several rules to this contest and the pies are judged by three judges and then auctioned off at the end of the night. This is a great way for this group to raise money for youth education.
We have had several “Giant” demonstrations that are put on to entertain and feed the general public over the years. We have had a Mile High Sunday where 63 gallons of ice cream, 8 gallons of syrup, and toppings are used to make the Sunday (using a child’s wading pool as our bowl), a giant hoagie that took 16 ½ minutes to create from start to finish. The public has always proclaimed these items to be most tasty and always come back to see if there are seconds.
The Friday evening entertainment is always a Square Dance. Everyone gathers round to enjoy not only the dancing, but the costumes that are worn by the dancers.
We have an abundance of help with the Washington County Fair Queen, the Dairy Princess, and the Beef Representative in attendance to help with passing out ribbons, to displaying the winning apple pie during the auction. We have also held other contest throughout the years.
If we were to have to pick the two biggest draws to our weekend, we would have to say that the Sheep Shearing Demonstration is always a standing room only show. We have a local Sheep Shearer who brings in sheep and shears them in front of the crowd. While he is shearing, we have a commentator who describes what is happening and what the shearer is doing. The shearer uses a set of clippers that are normally used in today shearing events. When he is done, he shows how the fleece is in one piece and how they fold it and put it in a wool bag. At the end of his demonstration, he always bring out a hand crank powered clipper and show how to shear a sheep with this while someone hand cranks the set to make the clippers run. This demonstration shows how hard it was to shear wool before electricity was available.
The next big draw that we have is our Duck Pond. During the entire weekend we have a duck pond that has a sliding board in it and the community enjoys standing for hours watching the ducks climb up the sliding board and then back down the slide into the water. We have several groups of ducks that are used to ensure that they do not get over tired from going up and down the slide. This is surely one of our biggest highlights for kids of all ages.
Many years we have competitions to raise money from the different groups that attend. This one event was a Food Drive headed up by the Washington County Farm Bureau. This event was a competition between the local Machinery dealers to “Load the Loader”. This drive is to get everyone to donated non-perishable items to be collected and donated to the Greater Washington County Food Bank. They have also had a competition between the 4 H Clubs to see which could gather the most. It usually ends with a Pizza Party.
Ag Day Committee Members
Olive Barney
Diane Bissett
Sheila Bursin
*Jennifer Dann
Norma Dinsmore
*Jeff Gardner
Nadine Gardner
Shelia Hackinson
Phyllis Hamilton
*Kathie Hunnell
* Judy Iams
Pam Kelly
June Leech
*Darlene Locy
Florence Lowry
*Judy McCloskey
Dorthy McMurray
*Betty Naser
Pam Paletta
*Todd Richards
*HP Shriver
Gary Stokum
*Todd Thornburg
*Michelle Ward
Ruth Weaver
*Donna Winnett
Sara Wilson
Beula Woodruff
*Current Ag Day Committee Members