Benders at the Tulsa State Fair in 1930

As the Tulsa State Fair is in full swing, this seemed the perfect time for this posting since it is about the fair 85 years ago!

                During the first half of the 20^th century, the Big Bend was comprised of two communities and school districts. Belford School had the smaller school population while Woodland, on the western side of the Big Bend, “always had more kids” according to my mother, Bernyce Smith Gates. It is almost unfathomable to realize that Belford at its zenith had around 80 students, with Woodland boasting a student body of around 100. In a rough calculation, I figure that the Big Bend’s population exceeded 200 easily in the late 1920s and early 1930s!

                My mother and her parents lived on the east side of the Bend – Belford community. My grandmother relished being active in the community and getting as many others involved as possible. She prided herself on producing the best of the best in anything she attempted. Most of the time, my grandfather supported her - although sometimes begrudgingly since she was a workaholic and an overachiever.

 In the late summer of 1930, my grandparents took the Belford Agriculture Display to the Osage County Free Fair. The display exhibited various grains and crops grown at that time in the Big Bend. Grandma had the vision of how it should look and Grandpa helped her make it a reality. The Belford display won first place, so my grandparents with my mother, aged 5 (almost 6), in tow, packed and headed to the Tulsa State Fair.

                The Osage County Extension agent, Fred Ahrberg, assisted my grandparents, Calvin Callcayah and Gladys Vivian Rainey Smith, in preparing for their state display. Mother recalls that Mr. Ahrberg located a mechanical attention-getting doll to create even more interest in the Belford Agriculture Display. The little mechanical professor who moved his teaching pointer served as a eye-catching prop, attracting state fair goers.

This photograph was in the 1931 Osage County Free Fair program that Grandma had saved in her
keepsake box. This display had won in 1930. As Dad would say, "Benders can compete with the best of them."

                Mother did an obligatory displays walk-through. Grandma always valued learning so I am sure she encouraged my mother to learn as much as she could from the innovative booths. Mother zipped through the county displays in the building where the Osage County booth was. She was a bored little girl and looking for some action!

When quizzing Mother about her attendance at the Tulsa State Fair 85 years ago, the subject of livestock entries came up. Her reply to me indicated a low interest level in this area of the fair. Her exact quote at aged 90, “You’ve seen one cow, you’ve seen them all. I could see cows all day long when I was back home.”

Her keen interest was sparked by the midway rides. To my amazement, she rode all the rides, except the ferris wheel, by herself! Recently, we heard a report on the noon news from a Tulsa television station that a bracelet could be purchased for $75 that would enable children to have unlimited rides on all midway rides (except one) for the entire eleven days of the 2015 Tulsa State Fair. With her dry sense of humor, she exclaimed, “I would have been a Dizzy Lizzy because I would have ridden those rides all day long!”

My independent mother at age 5 (almost 6) rode as many rides as she could or as frequently as she could get the nickel or dime. In 1930, each ride was paid for individually. Less than one year after the stock market crash of 1929, the nickel and dime were hard to come by from her parents. She admits that she probably rode more rides than most kids that year because she was an only child.

In our present day, when a child is old enough to comprehend who a stranger is, the concept of “Stranger Danger” is drilled into each little one’s mind! Yet my mother ran around the midway willy nilly, riding the rides at her own discretion by herself, while her parents manned the Osage County booth. What a different world we live in!

Mother even admitted to getting lost frequently on the fair grounds. She indicated, in that era, only rich families feared kidnapping and glibly spouted, “We were so poor that me getting kidnapped wasn’t a worry.” Very seldom was it heard that sexual predators or such kidnapped children. To return to her parents, she would merely ask an adult or those who operated the rides to direct her to the “building with the booths” and she would calmly meander back.

It was such a different day and time. Mother said they slept on pallets right there in the pavilion where the award-winning booth was. The only fair food Mother remembered was the pink cotton candy. Her mother provided their food while there, primarily sandwiches. No fried-whatever-on-a-stick for them!

Often people ask about my mother's condition, at almost aged 91. Most know she managed to prepare Dad’s special foods, carefully calculating the protein grams, pureeing, and straining every bite he ate. She did a terrific job in loving and caring for Dad for 67 years of marriage. He readily nodded when I asked, "Is she the boss of you?"
            Mother is “scary smart” with a mind that never stops.* God has graciously blessed us with her. Happy 91st Birthday to Mother on October 17th.

* I wrote this before Dad's death. The evening I wrote this,  Mother was the one who noticed and troubleshot until she convinced me to call Ben, my brother-in-law, who walked us through how to get Dad’s oxygen machine working again!