Test your Alaska State Fair chops

Pencils ready? It’s time to test your knowledge of the Alaska State Fair.

Which statements are true?

1. Early days

a. M.D. Snodgrass, colonization agent and tireless agricultural enthusiast, founded the “Matanuska Valley Fair” in 1936.

b. Exhibits filled the entire first floor of Central School (now the Mat-Su Borough Building). Livestock was housed east of the school playgrounds.

c. The first Matanuska Valley Fair coincided with the opening of the Knik River Bridge linking the Valley with Anchorage for the first time. With the railroad, this allowed people throughout the state to attend the fair.

d. Events included crowning a fair queen, baby show, boxing matches, horse races, dances, rodeo and baseball, in addition to hundreds of agricultural entries.

e. All the above.

2. Local luminaries

a. Elvie Kerttula Rebarchek remembered children displaying pets that first year. Her 7-year old son, Jalmar Kerttula (who grew up to be president of the Alaska Senate), entered his little black dog and her puppies.

b. M.D. Snodgrass, once he could no longer actively promote the fair, sat in front of the fairgrounds selling tickets from his car window (outselling all the queen candidates.)

c. Ruth Estelle, first fair secretary, recorded hundreds of entries. “Homesteaders and Colonists alike participated. We sure kept busy,” she said. Estelle entered exhibits and won her share of blue ribbons. Her seven children became involved through 4-H. “The fair was a big part of our life.” After her first son was born, “I got out of the hospital and went to the fair before I came home,” she said.

d. Fanny Werner, a homesteader’s wife, took first prize in every category she entered between 1936 and 1948. When Fanny became a fair judge, others got their chance. Her daughter, Violet (Norbo) then won all the blue ribbons for awhile.

e. All the above.

3. Growth and change

a. A fair train from Seward to Palmer arrived on opening day in 1936. Baggage man, E.F. Bittner, found himself caretaker for two prize goats and one Holstein calf. The railroad offered free shipping for entries from along the railway.

b. In 1939, the fair acquired a new site where the Palmer Veterans and Pioneers Home is found at Fireweed and Chugach Streets.

c. From 1942 to 1946, “war jitters” contributed to a five-year hiatus of the fair as “they didn’t want too many people in one place.”

d. In 1956, the fair board petitioned the Alaska Legislature for “official” state fair status. The Tanana Valley Fair, established in 1924, made the same request. The Legislature chose to alternate between the two: the Tanana Valley Fair is “official” on even years; the Alaska State Fair (the name changed in 1959) is “official” on odd years.

e. All the above.

4. Of cabbages and kings

a. The Giant Cabbage Contest began in 1941 when the manager of the Alaska Railroad offered a $25 prize for the largest cabbage. Max Sherrod produced a 23-pound winner. He set a world record in 1957 with a 61-pound cabbage, and was again lauded in 1975 for a 72-pound entry.

b. Steve Hubacek of Wasilla set a record in 2009 for the world’s heaviest cabbage with his 127-pound entry.

c. John Evans of Palmer set world records with a 35-pound broccoli in 1993, a 19-pound carrot in 1998 and a 42.75-pound beet in 1999.

d. Scott Robb of Palmer established world records with his 63.3-pound celery in 2003, a 64.8-pound cantaloupe and 39.2-pound turnip in 2004, a 96.96-pound kohlrabi in 2006, a 105.9-pound kale in 2007 and an 82.9-pound rutabaga in 2009.

e. All the above.

5. Highlights

a. The fair’s 25th anniversary in 1960 celebrated with politician John F. Kennedy kicking-off his presidential campaign by proclaiming, “Alaska represents the great opportunity of America — our vast and untapped natural resources — our opportunity for growth. Alaska represents a pioneer spirit which we all need to recapture in these difficult times.”

b. TV’s Michael Landon (who at the time played Little Joe Cartwright on “Bonanza”) rode a familiar pinto pony in a 1960s fair parade.

c. In 1976, the fairgrounds became home to the Transportation Museum of Alaska. Renamed the Museum of Alaska Transportation and Industry, it relocated to Wasilla in 1992.

d. During the fair in 2008, thousands gathered to witness the unveiling of the new Alaska state quarter. The unveiling occurred the same morning the announcement was made that Gov. Sarah Palin had been picked to run as vice president on the Republican Presidential ticket with John McCain.

e. All the above.

6. The present

a. The fair opened in its current location in 1967.

b. Alaska State Fair Inc. is a non-profit, self-sustaining corporation facing challenges including necessary infrastructure, maintenance upgrades and providing outstanding programming.

c. Five Colony-era buildings were restored and situated on the fairgrounds, showcasing the Matanuska Colony Project: the log Lutheran church, two homes, a barn and a cottage representing the Valley’s railroad era.

d. While today’s entertainments are more eclectic, the heart of the fair still focuses on values of the state’s agrarian forbearers: agriculture, lots of food, friends and family, and an old-fashioned good time.

e. All the above.

Answers: Correct answer for all questions is “e.”

— Barbara Hecker