Jr. Fair brings everyone together
CULLOM – The Cullom park was the center of attention Friday morning during livestock shows at the 72nd Cullom Junior Fair.
The dairy and hog shows brought crowds out to enjoy a day at the fair under the big shade trees and shelters in the middle of town. Livestock entries are up this year, except for hogs which were down slightly.
“We had a real nice increase in sheep and beef cattle,” said fair leader George Halpin. “I think we had 55 head of beef here which is up quite a bit.”
The Legion hosts different activities downtown during the Cullom Celebration, which is held in conjunction with the fair. The traditional balloon launch took place Thursday night to kick off the weekend festivities and went well.
“It was a beautiful night for it. He went up a little late because it was windy earlier,” Halpin noted.
Down the street, members of the Cullom Fire Department were grilling steak sandwiches as a fundraiser for the association since everything is non-profit.
“We bought this grill a few years ago and we’ve cooked hogs on it for other fundraisers,” Fire Chief Ron Nettleingham explained.
Even though Nettleingham has a strong group of volunteer fire fighters who help regularly, he could still use more.
Another nearby fundraiser included members of the Tri-Point High School National Honor Society who were washing cars to help purchase student planners for the school. After completely washing the vehicle exteriors, the students then vacuumed and washed the inside windows.
“It is kind of a two-step process,” NHS vice-president Elise Bruner said.
Tri-Point science teacher and NHS sponsor Alison Buckley appreciates the strong community support with people always willing to help out. She said the organization has been doing this during the Cullom Junior Fair for about five years.
“If anyone calls or needs something, we usually try to find a way that we can provide help,” Buckley stated.
The fair also includes a flower show and domestic arts projects in the Cullom Community Building. Cullom Celebration highlights include: a barbeque cookoff, volleyball tournament, tractor pull and fireworks.