By JULIE CARLE
BG Independent News
Kerrigan and Mason Skowron pushed the pedals on miniature battery-operated tractors and took off to discover the fun and lessons of Farm to Market at the Wood County Fair.
The educational activity, disguised as a fun adventure, teaches children between the ages of three and eight about where their food comes from and the importance of agriculture in Wood County and Ohio.
The new activity, created by Wood County Fair Board Director Deanne Corken and her family, was designed based on a similar exhibit she had seen at a fair in Elkhart, Indiana.
Though some of the stops along the path are different from the Indiana fair, Corken said, children start down the path on a small tractor with a wagon. Their job is to pick produce, such as carrots, onions, potatoes, milk and apples, and place them in a basket.
Along the way, they drive through a small grain bin where there are some agriculture facts and crop seeds to identify. As they continue, there are some hungry pretend animals they feed.
Once the crops are all gathered, the little farmers sell the crops at the farmer’s market where they receive “farm bucks” for their goods. The farm money is used to buy one of 12 crop-based treats in a little store. Each treat has a hand-written label explaining what crops were used to make the food.
The last stop is a trip through the tractor wash, a giggle-producing bubble machine, and often one of the favorite memories.
“Farm to Market is designed to show the whole process of farming, from raising products, whether it’s crops or animal products, to harvesting them, taking them to market, selling them to make a profit and then using the money for something that they need,” Corken said.
Many children aren’t around agriculture to know how it works, even though it is the state’s number one industry.
“They see the end product, but they don’t know where it comes from, how it gets there and the work it takes to get the food to that point,” she said.
A family’s labor of love
When Corken saw the idea at the Elkhart fair two years ago, “It was so impressive, I knew we needed to do this at our fair,” she said.
The planning process was delayed two years when Corken was sidelined from an injury and became increasingly involved in planning the fair’s 150th celebration.
A second trip to Elkhart convinced her, she needed to bring the concept to Wood County, but she didn’t know how to get the gargantuan task done.
“I didn’t want to ask the fair board to take on more things or put any more into it,” she said. One day she was outside swinging and thought about creating Farm to Market as a family legacy.
The fair meant so much to her parents, Darrell and Ruth Ann Hentges, and grandparents, Lawrence and Helen Brinker, and O.C. and Lena Hentges.
Long-time farmers and sheep producers, they instilled in their children and grandchildren the love of the fair, agriculture and raising and showing sheep. Now, there is a fifth generation to continue the family’s farm and fair tradition.
Corken, who has only missed one day at the fair during her lifetime, is a perfect example of the family’s connection and commitment to the fair.
“This was like our vacation. We always showed sheep, and they did well, but it was never about winning,” she said. “The fair was about friends and family.”
Both sides of the family showed sheep, so they were related to everyone in the sheep barn. When she was very young, her parents put a sign on her that said “If I was lost, send me to the sheep barn because someone would know me there,” Corken laughed.
The lessons and experiences have been lovingly handed down from grandparents, parents, their children and now to a fifth generation.
“What better way to honor them and their legacy than to create this?” she said. When it comes to the love of their grandparents, the family was all in.
“A lot of people at the fair still remember my parents and grandparents,” she said, but the signage includes their names and pictures to ensure the children and families who don’t know them get a sense of the family’s legacy at the farm. “That was important to me,” she added.
She knew it would take more than family to create it
Community came to the table
The plan to have the exhibit ready by the 2025 fair was ambitious, but Corken and her family were determined. They didn’t want to start small and build on it. The idea was to bring the wow factor in the first year.
“Partly because it would have our name on it, I wanted it to be good the very first year,” she said.
Her family, especially her sister Dawn Anderson and cousin Cheryl Miller, supported the project 100%. What truly made it happen this year was “a ton of community support—sponsorships and people wanting to help.”
They mailed sponsorship requests to businesses and people they knew. Corken and Anderson took the show on the road and talked to service clubs and other groups “just to let them know what was going on,” she said. And Anderson was the resident grant writer.
The response was overwhelmingly positive. Donors loved the concept that is educational, family-friendly and free to families who attend the fair.
Service clubs, organizations, businesses and individuals stepped up to provide monetary support, material donations and labor. And the fair maintenance crew offered manpower when it came to creating the trails and setting up electricity for the bubble machine.
In the couple of days since the fair started, the response has been great.
“Somebody mentioned that this is the best thing that’s happened at the Wood County Fair,” she said. “Knowing that there has been a positive response, it seems to be successful so far. I think they can’t help but learn something going through it.”
Corken is happy that the kids have fun, learn a little about agriculture, and want to return. “Some will come every day just because it’s so much fun,” she said.
In a survey after the kids are finished, many report they loved driving the tractor and going through the bubble machines.
“I hope they learn something between Point A and Point B,” she said. “The volunteer helpers are good about asking them what they learned when they were done or ‘Did you read that sign?’ That’s the education, and hopefully their parents caught some of that on the way too.”
Farm to Market, located just north of the Weston Depot, is open noon to 6 p.m. throughout the fair.
