SUNNY SKIES WELCOME HORDES ON THE FIRST DAY OF THE 77TH PRODUCTION OF THE GREAT SAINT MARY’S COUNTY FAIR

SUNNY SKIES WELCOME HORDES ON THE FIRST DAY OF THE 77^TH PRODUCTION OF THE GREAT SAINT MARY’S COUNTY FAIR

BY KEN ROSSIGNOL

THE CHESAPEAKE TODAY

LEONARDTOWN, MD. – When Henry Fowler makes a promise of entertainment and fun for the entire family, he’s not horsing around. Fowler, the veteran of a lifetime of participating in and overseeing the Jousting Tournament, a rarity among county fairs across America, also serves as an announcer for the annual Fair Parade. Between events, he is a roving ambassador for the fair, answering questions for those seeking direction.

Jousting has deep roots in Maryland, especially in Calvert and St. Mary’s County. Delegate Henry Fowler Sr. introduced a bill in the Maryland General Assembly in 1962 to make Jousting the Official State Sport of Maryland, which Governor J. Milliard Tawes signed into law.

On Saturday, the Amateur Class Jousting Tournament will be followed by the Grand Jousting Parade and the Professional Class Jousting Tournament.

Another St. Mary’s County tradition is the infamous Stuffed Ham delicacy, which is not only featured at the Fair with a demonstration on how to stuff ham by David Dent, owner of Chiefs, which is located at Tall Timbers, Md. Watching a lesson on how to stuff ham is itself a rarity as the skill is mostly taught in the home kitchens of the county or at local churches, which feature Sunday dinners that serve fried oysters and stuffed ham.  Chiefs also has a concession stand at the fair that sells Stuffed Ham Sandwiches and Crabcake Egg Rolls. Stuffed Ham is available to take home when bought by the pound.

A venerable county-owned pizza stand operated by Pizza Hotline from Charlotte Hall delivers on the promise of crispy, delicious, fresh-made pizza.

Anne Richards is not shy about giving away her age, mainly due to the fact that her husband, Fair Association President John Richards, exceeds her in days on the face of the earth. John Richards also exceeds all in history as the longest-running president of the Great St. Mary’s County Fair, guiding and leading the many dedicated volunteers in staging one of the best fairs in the nation. 

It has been nearly 55 years ago that we agreed to become the leaders of Tudor Hall 4-H Club. 50 years ago John agreed to serve on the St Mary’s Co Fair Board. A group of Volunteer Work Horses who have developed the County Fairgrounds into a community asset shared with numerous organizations and families. John is celebrating 40 years as Fair President – he said several years ago he would keep doing it till he got it right.
– Anne Richards

Keeping the original purpose alive, that of honoring the traditions of agriculture and the importance to the community of real food grown by real people, the 4-H exhibits are the prominent mainstay of the county fair, with barns filled with young people as proud as punch to groom and pose their livestock, rabbits, poultry, and garden wonders in barns teeming with both young and old.

There are, of course, the youngsters, leading their parents around the midway, committed to their birthright of enjoying carnival rides galore adorned with flickering lights, loud tunes, and the air filled with the aromas of buttered popcorn, roasting peanuts, and cotton candy.

With the sound of the chainsaw sculptor demonstrating the art at one end of the fair and the lowing of the cattle at the other end, blending with the screams of joy from the rides, the fair sounded like a fair should sound. 

The arts and crafts and education building was toured by families seeking to view entries made by hundreds of children and adults in addition to the extensive 4-H animals proudly presented in their respective barns.  The barns are well kept, new facilities are added each year, or old ones are rebuilt due to age or storms. One of the 4-H buildings had a roof removed during a severe storm some years ago, and former Del. John Bohanan came to the rescue with a source of funding to replace it.

The commercial buildings feature businesses seeking to expand their customer base, and they are as varied as the Booth HVAC company promoting whole-house generators to the Houseboat Poet Jim McDonald selling his books.

The desolation of the Democratic Party booth reflects the area’s disdain for the generally kooky political view of the once overwhelmingly Democratic Party in St. Mary’s County, which has become a foggy and distant memory. The GOP booth at the other end of the building was bustling with fairgoers snapping up Trump signs and bumper stickers and posing with a cardboard cutout of President Trump.

St. Mary’s County was once a bastion of Democratic Party strength in Maryland with a five-to-one registration advantage over the GOP.  It is rare for a Democrat to win a county election in the last twenty years, with Roy Dyson and John Bohanan losing in 2014.

The opening day of the fair on Thursday, September 19^th, began when the gates opened for the influx of people who rapidly filled the parking lots, and a few hours later, the new Auditorium hosted the annual Queen of Tolerance Pageant. The Fair began in 1947, and as the county embraced desegregation in 1963, it joined with the formerly Colored Farmers and Homemakers Fair. The Fair Association identified many of the Queens of the Farmers and Homemakers Fair over the years. It brought many of them to the Queen of Tolerance on Opening Night in 2023, including Queen Elaine Toney.
“There weren’t any records anywhere; I spent a lot of time going back through old newspapers trying to find stories and photos of fair queens; it was quite a process, and then we sought photos from families to put up here in the auditorium.”

Congressman Roy Dyson, a Great Mills native, is the master of ceremonies for the fair’s opening each year. He was first elected to the Maryland House of Delegates in 1974 and served until 1981 when he was sworn in as the First Congressional District of Maryland Representative. After serving five terms in Congress, Dyson was elected in 1994 to five terms in the Maryland State Senate.

Queen of Tolerance Natalie Filbey (center) is dual enrolled at Poeima Homeschool and the College of Southern Maryland!

Natalie’s court includes First Runner-Up Alyssa Black of Leonardtown High School (left) and Second Runner-Up Azariah Rivers, also of Leonardtown High.

The Leonardtown Middle School Chorus performed The Star-Spangled Banner under the director of Jason Bowser after St. Mary’s Sheriff’s Department presented the colors, which usually was done in the past by the Cub Scouts.

Dyson introduced Richards, who began the procession of the thirteen participants for the title of Queen of Tolerance.