CHESTERFIELD COUNTY, Va. -- The Chesterfield County Fair is up and running for its 111th year and will be naming the arts and crafts building after one of the fair's longtime volunteers, Mary Chalkley.
Chalkley is humbled by the recognition. She has spent 56 years volunteering with the fair, first as a secretary and now as the coordinator of the arts and crafts building that bears her name.
Chalkley has been connected to the fair since 1966 and remembers the previous locations before the permanent location in Chesterfield.
"It's a lot of memories when we started at the old courthouse, that's where the fair was, until 1987 and then we went to the airport in 1988 and we have been on these grounds since 1989," Chalkley said.
She even participated in the 4H program when she was nine years old, entering her prized steer. Now 85, Chalkley is the oldest volunteer with the fair and works long hours overseeing nine departments.
As for running the fair, Brenda White Vaughn is the general manager. In its early days, the fair was an agriculture showcase for farmers. These days, it offers a little bit of everything.
"This year, we are having our first annual classic horse show on Sunday the 28th," White Vaughn said.
There is also a new mobile dairy classroom with a live cow and a cowboy circus with Danny Grant which will be held the first weekend of the fair.
"He'll teach you how to lasso, how to ride on a barrel that's turning, things like that," White Vaughn said.
This year's fair will be Chalkley's last as a volunteer, but she plans to continue to support the fair by being a guest for years to come.
