DU QUOIN, Ill. — Tibretta Reiman may be the new assistant manager for the Du Quoin State Fair, but this local gal comes into this new position with deep roots and generations of family tradition.
Hailing from Pinckneyville, Reiman and her family have been showing its locally renowned Bigham Jerseys since the first fairs. She also worked as a regional tourism specialist before accepting an appointment this spring to coordinate the Du Quoin fair on behalf of the Illinois Department of Agriculture.
While she prefers to explain her role as “local boots on the ground” for new Illinois State Fair Manager Kevin Gordon, Reiman has been orchestrating an administratively reorganized fair that’s now a partner with the Illinois State Fair in Springfield.
Here’s what she’s been working on.
What are the biggest changes this year?
There are many of them, but they are mostly behind the scenes. We are trying to honor the past while looking to the future.
Everything takes money, and everyone has worked hard to bring in more money in sponsorships and vendors, which we’ve been very successful with. We’ve had to look to other avenues and outside of the box. There’s been more work on tourism surrounding the fair.
Another change is the partnership with the Springfield fair. The staffs have been working together, and we’re sharing some of the entertainment.
Du Quoin used to operate on it own. We’re all family now.
Is there more emphasis on agriculture this year?
Our theme this is “Producing Our Future,” which relates to future of agriculture and the next generation. We’ve expanded the agricultural experience with displays about farming and explaining where food comes from. We also have a number of schools coming in for field trips.
And, of course, we also have the annual livestock shows. We also have Ag Youth Day on Monday (Aug. 29). That’s when we have the FFA Farm Yard Follies.
Where will you spend most of your time during the fair?
I’ll be behind the scenes, making sure all of ticketing, back stage and security is all moving in the right direction. The key is ensuring everyone has a good time from start to finish.
What’s your earliest memory of this fair?
It definitely was showing cows when I was 3 or 4 years old. My family has been showing cattle here all along.
My son has done the same thing. He was pictured showing his cow on the cover of the 2008 fair guide.
What are the best tips for families?
We’ve always had free entertainment, but there’s even more this year. It’s all listed in our fair schedule.
We also have reasonable pricing for carnival rides. There’s a pay-one-price ride special for $18 at Krogers. The wristband allows unlimited carnival rides for one day.
A lot of people also don’t know that they can rent strollers, wagons, wheelchairs, powered scooters and golf carts.
The fair business is loud, fast and comes with many moving pieces. Where on the fairgrounds do you go for a quiet moment?
Lately, I’ve been coming out to the Grandstand. I enjoy sitting there and looking out over the infield and thinking about how little it has changed in all these years. I also like go out to the lake by the cow barns.
What are your must-have fair foods?
The first thing I get is a Paulette’s corn dog. I also love the Gyro King gyros. There’s a Philly cheese taco, the catfish nuggets at T Street Pub and Joanie’s cinnamon rolls.
When the ribbon is cut on Aug. 26 and the Twilight Parade steps through the Main Gate, a new chapter starts for the Du Quoin State Fair.
Presenting its 94th line-up, the fair opens with new staff, improved business practices, more food and retail vendors and new features, especially for families.
Yes, there’s still harness racing, rodeos, auto races, carnival rides, live music, lots of livestock and, like it or not, tents full of politicians. But Assistant Fair Manager Tibretta Reiman hopes revelers catch a comfortable feeling of nostalgia as they stroll the fairgrounds this season.
“We have many traditions that have survived the years, and I think that’s why many people come back with their families every year. They came here as kids, and now they’re coming back with their kids and their grandkids,” Reiman said.
While attending this fair in Perry County may be a family tradition for many in southern Illinois, the fair has been a milestone in the region’s history since 1923. That’s when William R. Hayes bought an old coal strip mine next to his 30-acre tract and began building the fairgrounds to match the quality of the Illinois State Fair
Hayes built a park-like setting that boasted planting of 1,400 trees, a grandstand, barns — the first one still is standing and in use — and a horse track. The result is what some 150,000 people are expected to enjoy this year at the 1,200-acre fair complex with an 18,000-seat grandstand, a track to host horses, race cars and motorcycles, 12 lakes and 30 miles of black-topped roads.
In the center of the grounds is the Hayes Mansion, a white-columned house behind a wrought-iron fence that used for special events.
Notable events in the fair’s past include the Hambletonian harness race, a renowned competition that has since moved to New York. The fair now runs races with pari-mutuel betting in the grandstand.
Hayes was known as an adept businessman and attracted investors to help build a fairgrounds with all the amenities. The fair’s website reported, “He foresaw the event as a prestigious, statewide attraction that ‘would be improved yearly as long as the fair exists.’”
The early fairs featured harness and auto racing, a dog show, an auto show and even a “flapper” fashion show. There also was a flying circus with stunt pilots, parachute jumpers and a dirigible from Scott Air Force Base near Belleville.
The fair also has notched some firsts: staged the first night horse show under electric lights and the first night stage show starring the Music Box Revue in 1929.
In 1970s and 1980s, the fair attracted such headliners as Bob Hope, Sammy Davis Jr., Alabama, Willie Nelson, Jim Nabors and the Bee Gees. Even the likes A.J. Foyt, Tony Bettenhausen and Mario Andretti know the fair.
Although Hayes started his business career selling soft drinks from a pushcart, he established a Coca-Cola bottling and distributing plant, a dairy products company and a chain of 19 movie theaters.
The fairgrounds has changed hands over the years, with the state of Illinois taking ownership in 1986.
Today, Reiman and her staff are busy with final preparations for the next fair, which follows a “Producing Our Future” theme.
By Karen Binder
Reprinted with permission from AGRINEWS