Charlie and Ethel Ann King will be the grand marshals of the 2016 Jackson County Fair Parade, set to begin at 6 p.m. Wednesday on Holton's Town Square. (Photo by Brian Sanders)

Charlie and Ethel Ann King to lead 2016 fair parade

 

Ethel Ann King remembers go­ing as a young girl to the Jackson County Fair when it was held on Holton’s Town Square, inside a huge tent where all the exhibits were on display.

“Those tents housed everything,” she said. “Of course, when you’re 10 or 11 years old, you think things are bigger than they are. But it was a big tent.”

Over time, though, King and her husband, Charlie, saw the fair move from the Square to its long­time home at the intersection of U.S. Highway 75 and Kansas Highway 16, and later to its new home at the Northeast Kansas Heritage Complex south of Holton.

The Kings have also marveled at the changes the fair has seen over the years, while supporting the county’s 4-H kids through providing trophies and purchasing premiums on 4-H members’ cattle at the annual livestock sale.

It’s that support that led the Jackson County Fair Association to name the Kings grand marshals of this year’s Jackson County Fair Parade, an honor that surprised them.

“I thought they were joking,” Charlie said with a laugh. “It really caught us unaware.”

“It did, but it will be fun,” Ethel added.

Charlie and Ethel were both born and raised in Jackson County, Ethel growing up on the Bradley farm just south of the city “where that big pond was” and Charlie beginning his life on the Potawatomi reservation but moving “probably 13 or 14 times” as a youth.

“My dad was a renter,” he said. “He rented land for farming, and we moved around a lot.”

They would eventually meet at and graduate from Holton High School, but as a student there, Charlie admitted he didn’t get involved in 4-H, even though he did help his father on the farm.

“I was involved in other activities at the high school, like football and track, all that sort of thing,” he said. “I enjoyed sports a lot.”

Ethel, on the other hand, was immersed in the 4-H experience — in fact, she said, she was involved in 4-H ever since she was eight years old, joining the old Sunshine Winners club.

“We had some livestock and some cooking, but not sewing,” she said. “My mother hated sewing, so what we did was mostly cooking, and we also participated in the Style Revue.”

The Kings married in 1955 and started a family with two daughters, Debby and Carolyn, and a son, David. The girls were “really involved” in 4-H, Ethel said, but David “wasn’t interested.”

Over the years, following the foundation of the King Engineering firm, Charlie and Ethel got involved with purchasing premiums on 4-H cattle at the annual livestock auction, and they also sponsored a few trophies over the years, mainly the pie championship trophy, Ethel said.

Today, Ethel’s involved in helping a couple of great-granddaugh­ters get into 4-H, noting that for her great-grandchildren, there’s a significantly greater number of activities available to them now, compared to when she was in 4-H.

“There’s so many things going on now, it’s just amazing,” Ethel said. “But it’s also wonderful, because kids need some inspiration.”

The Kings said they still love to see young people get involved in 4-H.

“They learn responsibilities, and they learn to take care of their projects,” Charlie said. “They work hard to compete with other people. It’s something they can hang on to for generations, and it’ll give them an edge later on in life.”

This year’s Jackson County 4-H Fair Parade will begin at 6 p.m. Wednesday on Holton’s Town Square.

The Holton Recorder

109 W. Fourth St.
Holton, KS 66436
Phone: 785-364-3141
 

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