Featuring the largest number of booths, the greatest midway, free acts and fireworks and the most entries of farm and manufactured products, as well as livestock, the 12th annual Robeson County Fair swung into full action Tuesday night after a rather slow beginning earlier in the day. Of all the fairs held in Robeson County the one for 1926 is larger in every respect except the entries of chickens.
Taking over the dates formerly used by the State Fair, the Robeson County Fair this year rivals the State Fair in size and in the large number of booths and in the entries of agricultural and manufactured products and cattle. Visitors from other counties are loud in their praise of what Robeson has done in this respect.
Twenty-Five Booths
Twenty-five booths, representing practically all the communities of the county, are arranged on the main floor of the exhibition hall, with both an educational and artistic appeal. Competition among the home economics booths is keen, with Rowland, Maxton, Long Branch, Parkton, Lumber Bridge and Rex-Rennert entered.
Maxton
One of the most artistically arranged and attractive booths at the fair is that from Maxton, every article in it being made by the people of Maxton. It includes a tea cart, a console table with mirror and lights, flower stand, center table, hat tree, hassock, flower basket, four hand-painted pictures, telephone stand, book ends, 4 wool rugs, electric light shades, jardiniere, hand-painted and hand-made trays, fish jar, shopping bag, toys, 2 books written by Maxton people, and a mirror frame. The booth is decorated with red and blue on a yellow background, and its appearance is winning the admiration of a large number of those attending the fair. The judges yesterday awarded it first place.
Rex-Rennert
Especially good for its educational value is the water system of the Rex-Rennert community. It is a duplicate of the system now in use by Mr. A. W. Adcox of Rex, who installed it at a cost of approximately $18. It is a home-built affair which furnishes water for the kitchen, for the shower bath, the garden and for washing. The purpose of the booth is to show that a water system is within the reach of every home. Instructive posters explain that the average family carries 20 tons of water 40 miles per day and that this method of furnishing water for the home will save the average housewife 30 8-hour days a year.
Rowland
Reading for the farm home is shown in the Rowland booth. All the different magazines are placed there with the prices and points why they are thought to be valuable. Books are also included, a public library having been recently started in Rowland and particular interest being taken in it.
Parkton
The Parkton booth shows how attractive house dresses and aprons maybe made of good material in a short time and that they may be easily laundered. Posters show the time necessary to make the dresses and the cost of each.
Long Branch
Long Branch has the largest assortment of any home economics booth. It is a community exhibit with a map of the district with the names of the people displayed in the background. Everything raised by the people of that community is included, seeds of some products being used where it is impossible to supply the product itself. The booth is unique in that it includes everything from squashes to a hen’s nest. It was winner of second prize.
Lumber Bridge
The Lumber Bridge exhibit represents winter bouquets and cakes. It is one of the most attractive of all the booths. The ladies of the community come to Lumberton every day and change the flowers, keeping fresh ones on display all the time.
School Booths
The Cherokee Indian Normal College and McDonald are the only contestants for school booths. The Indian Normal exhibit shows the work done at the institution in the home economics department. Especially interesting is the slumber robe of various colors made of yard thread, the threat alone costing $20. Another thing out of the ordinary is a half pint of pomegranate juice. Many canned goods and garments made in the school are also in the exhibit. It was selected as first prize winner by the judges.
McDonald
The McDonald school exhibit deals with a hot school lunch. It has all the equipment needed to serve hot lunches to 50 pupils with recipes of what to use. It also illustrates good and poorly-packed lunches. A demonstration will be given Friday. It was awarded second prize.
Community Booth
The colored home demonstration clubs have the only so-called community booth at the fair. All the colored communities of the county cooperated in the undertaking, and their exhibit is neatly arranged and presents an attractive appearance. Hilly Branch and Lumberton have more representation in the booth than any of the others. It includes everything for the home.
Individual
Miss Ruth Edmund’s booth is the first to greet the eye when entering the right of the main building. It consists of fancy work and art. Further back on the same side is Mr. and Mrs. B. Sam Edwards, who have had an exhibit in the fair every year since it was organized. His consists of home and farm products. Further back still is Miss Julia Wessel, who demonstrates live at home She is making an effort to show that the road to prospertity lies in pecans, dairying and poultry. Everything made by the farm for home consumption is in her exhibit. To the left of Miss Wessel is Mrs. Bertha Singletary, who ha cotton a ng when supported by home-grown food. Miss Wssel was awarded first prize, Mrs. Singletary, second prize, Mr. and Mrs. B. Sam Edwards, third prize.
Agricultural
Chief among the agricultural exhibits is ta from the Cherokee Indian Normal College of Pembroke. Mr. A. F. Corbin, agricultural teacher there, is at the booth to explain to people anything they might want to know about it. He has on display some winter garden vegetables taken from his own garden, a variety of soybeans, legumes, ham and eggs, grasses, grains, corn including the yellow and white crossed, peas, eggplants, sweet pepper, cotton, tobacco, cane, rhubarb, garden huckleberries, potatoes, pumpkins, radishes, carrots, tomatoes, okra, cream, and in fact everything that goes to make up probably the biggest assortment yet seen here in an agricultural exhibit. This booth won first prize.
Others having agricultural exhibits are Mr. W. G. Tyson and Mrs. Shelton West, both of Lumberton R.F.D., and Mr. O.O. Dukes, county farm agent. Mr. Tyson won second prize.
Commercial
Artistically-arranged commercial booths add greatly to the appearance of the exhibit hall. Among these are L. H. ‘Caldwell’s, featuring Frigidaire refrigerators and Estate heatrolers; Stephens and Barns’, furniture; Kirkman-Wicker Co.’s, Coleman heaters and Air-O-Gas stoves, and Heath-Milligan paints and Lacq; John F. French & Co.’s, Purina Chows; the Carolina Rubber Co., Salisbury, Clover Leaf automobile tires; Mascot Limestone, lime for all crops; and Armours Big Crop fertilizers.
Unnamed Fish
Drawing crowds both day and night is a red fish entered by Malcolm McQueen, colored, of Lumberton. McQueen caught the fis in Lumber River. It is too large for a gold fish and yet it resembles one closely. No one yet has been able to name it.
Judges were busy all day yesterday awarding prizes. Theiy were confronted with more livestock than ever has been at a Robeson county fair and a larger entry of farm products. A list of their awards will be pushed in a later issue of The Robesonian.
The free acts, rides, concessions, and all the midway have been highly entertaining and have been well attended. Wednesday night the fireworks were used for the first time and proved all they were represented to be. Great interest has been manifested in the baby contest.
Friday is school day, and the school children will be admitted free between the hours of 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. A number of schools will give a half holiday to allow the children to attend. A large representation is expected.
Editor’s Note: Cherokee Indian Normal College was founded by the state legislature in 1887 to give Native American students a college education. The first year it was a two-story building with 15 students. In 1926, the Cherokee Indian Normal School in Pembroke, North Carolina, was in the midst of expanding its teacher training program. That year, the school instituted a two year postsecondary teacher training program, marking a significant step in its evolution from a small normal school into a more formalized college-level institution. Today it is the University of North Carolina at Pembroke.
From the front page of the Robesonian, Lumberton, N.C., Thursday, Oct. 21, 1926
newspapers.digitalnc.org/lccn/sn84026483/1926-10-21/ed-1/seq-1/
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