Montgomery County Agricultural Fair
August 11 – August 19, 2017
Started 72 years ago as a way to provide a county show for the 4-H members in Montgomery County, our local fair is now one of the largest county Fairs in the State of Maryland – and obviously the best!
For MCBA members, the Fair provides an opportunity to sell products of the hive, compete for prizes, present live bee demonstrations to the public, and talk about bees with thousands of interested adults and children in Old McDonald’s Barn. Be part of the agricultural tradition of Montgomery County, along with the more than 800 volunteers who make the Fair exciting, safe and fun.
Volunteers receive a complimentary ticket to the Fair for days that they volunteer. The link to sign up (to sell honey, give live demonstrations or greet the public in Old McDonald’s Barn) is at https://montgomerycountybeekeepers.com/members/volunteer/. Instructions for judging and for selling products of the hive are also available on the MCBA website. Members are welcome to sign up a friend or family member to work with them. And after 200 volunteer hours, you will become a Life Member of the Fair. It’s a goal worth aiming for.
The Fair schedule of events is posted at http://mcagfair.com/day-events/
Questions? Maureen Jais-Mick at jaismick1@verizon.net or 301-801-6253.
1945 – WHEN IT ALL STARTED
The Montgomery County Agricultural Fair was born out of the desire of 4-H leaders to provide a county show for the 4-H members in Montgomery County. This would allow the 4-H members to exhibit their prize livestock, garden and home economics projects to the community. Their initial meeting occurred on a cold, March night in Rockville in 1945 with the intent to start a Fair. The Montgomery County Fair is now today, one of the largest county Fairs in the State of Maryland.
During the first years of this new program from 1945 to 1948, anyone in the community with an interest in agriculture donated their time and efforts to provide 4-H and Future Farmers of America (FFA) youth the opportunity to compete for top awards with their projects. Parents of these youth served refreshments for the participants, sold catalog advertisements, built pens and ties for the livestock, and organized the entries. Prize money was provided by the Maryland State Fair Board with the shows being held on borrowed ground.
The Montgomery County Agricultural Center Inc. (MCAC) was formed as a privately operated 501(c) (3) non-profit organization on January 7, 1949, when a group of local farmers were elected as the first Board of Directors by the volunteer membership of the organization. The MCAC had recently purchased 64 acres of land adjacent to the railroad tracks from Herman Rabbitt, a successful farmer and landowner in Gaithersburg. On June 4th, 1949, hundreds of volunteers participated in after an old-fashioned barn raising and 12 outbuildings were constructed in one day. The site of the new Montgomery County Agricultural Center was created. Dedicated volunteers donated time, materials and talent to construct and continue operation of the Montgomery County Agricultural Fairgrounds. The Fairgrounds would not be what it is today if it were not for those visionary pioneers who were committed to agricultural education and family entertainment.
As is true today for the agricultural center, the volunteers were, and still are, necessary to the successful operation of the Fairgrounds, through continued contributions of materials and free labor for the construction of the new facilities, as well as upgrading the old. A network of more than 2,000 volunteers continue providing their time, making the agricultural center a vital part of the business community in Montgomery County. The nine day Montgomery County Agricultural Fair in mid-August requires support from more than 800 volunteers who assume the responsibility for organizing and producing the single largest annual event in Montgomery County.
The positive relationships and friendly atmosphere here at the Fairgrounds makes the MCAC a unique organization that continues to provide service to the agricultural and nonagricultural segments of our population while educating the public.
For a video interview with Marty Svrcek, Executive Director of the Fair (including some footage of a Club member), click on https://www.montgomerycountymd.gov/CCM/bottomline/Montgomery-County-Agricultural-Fair.html.
-Maureen Jais-Mick