Street Fair 100th Anniversary 2010

This is the first in an occasional series of stories leading up to the 100th Bluffton Street Fair in September of 2010.
Rhonda Ryan, who is leading the effort to put together a special celebration 18 months from now, and Barb Elliot of the Wells Historical Society is working on a commemorative book that will be sold during the 2010 Street Fair. They want stories, memories, photographs, and ideas.
Those with something to share can e-mail the News-Banner at newsroom@news-banner.com or contact Ryan at 827-0175.


Plans are in the works to make the 100th Street Fair in 2010 a very special event
By DAVE SCHULTZ
This September, Bluffton will host its 99th Street Fair. That means in 2010, Bluffton will host its 100th.
That should be a show.
“The Bluffton Street Fair is enjoyed by a lot of people in Wells County,” said Rhonda Ryan, who will chair that special celebration 18 mnths from now. “It is the only fair in Indiana that has been going on for 100 years — expect the State Fair and maybe some county fairs.”
2010 may be the 100th year for a Street Fair, but that doesn’t mean the first one was in 1910. Actually, the first fair was held in 1898.
“They apparently held off during World War I and World War II,” Ryan says. “There was also the Depression.”
Regardless, the dash for the 100th event is under way. Ryan and the committees that are planning the 2010 event are wanting stories, artifacts, anything that tells the story of the Bluffton Street Fair.
Barb Elliott of the Wells County Historical Society is compiling information for a book that will be on sale during the 100th fair.
There will be a Bluffton Street Fair in 2009, which will be the 99th. The committee is working to be sure that fair will be terrific, too. “Committee members are already working on it,” Ryan said during an interview earlier this month.
However, there are already plans being put in place for the 2010 fair. The hopes are that each night will have a different parade, with different entertainment each night. “We’re working on a grand marshal,” she said. “It will be a big name.”
What else? A beard contest for the men and a hat contest for the ladies. Costumes from different decades. Special souvenirs. A double Ferris wheel.
“And I’m sure there’s going to be some surprises,” she said.
Ryan has her own history with the fair. She’s the second generation of her family to be involved; her father, Keith Johns, also helped to plan the fair; he died in 1989 and his daughter joined the board in 1990. She remembers coming as a girl, getting corn dogs on a stick, eating cotton candy, going on the rides. She had a Kewpie doll on a stick, and Ryan, now 56, remembers that toy fondly.
“When you grow up in Wells County or Bluffton, it’s part of your growing up,” she said. “It’s a special time.”
daves@news-banner.com