Part of the series "Streets of Bloomington 2009," this is an hour-long audio documentary featuring narratives from four people in Bloomington, Indiana struggling with poverty and homelessness. Poverty in Bloomington has risen at an alarming rate, according to the latest data from the U.S. Census Bureau. The newest report claims poverty in Bloomington grew from 34.7 percent in 2006 to 41.6 percent in 2007, a seven percent increase in a single year. Produced by Jennifer Jameson, Chad Carrothers, and Andy Shaw in partnership with the Shalom Center and Indiana University’s Leadership, Ethics, & Social Action program.
(Monroe County, Indiana)
Stories collected July 27, 2005
In connection with the 50th anniversary of the Monroe County Fair (at its present site), the Museum of the Person gathered memories from visitors of all ages. The "Story Tent" was erected on July 27, 2005, Senior Citizens Day. As our first Story Tent event, we learned much about the technical aspects of videorecording in public places, coping with the rain and wind, and recruiting people to talk and share stories.
WHAT I ENJOY ABOUT THE FAIR
Nancy Sage
"To me the fair is a sense of community. No matter what community you are a part of. I just think the fair just brings a sense of community. The farming aspects and from the cities and towns too. It’s just kind of a time to pull it all together."
Jake VanDeventer
"You make a lot of friends at the fair. It's a fun experience. You get to see all your friends from school you don't see over the summer. Have fun, you've got the carnival and just everything."
Boyd Haley
"I like the fair. I like almost all the food because it's all good. I like going out to the commercial building because they have a lot of nice things that people will give away, especially rulers...Pretty much my entire family is in the fair on my dad's side. I like coming out to the fair. It's a fun experience and not many people can say that their family has been in the fair for so many years."
FAIR MEMORIES
Rebecca Stuart
"I expect I pretty much grew up with it. It was 4-H, exhibiting products that we made during the summer and then we went to the fair...Our products then were clothing and baking. Not too much else because I didn't take any animals to the fair. We didn't have anything like as many projects as the 4-H kids have available to them now."
Richard Stuart
"My earliest memory of the fair is being in town on Saturday when the fair was held on College Street and also on Kirkwood on the south side of the square. But my dad wasn't interested and he was doing his shopping. I was just a small youngster with him. I saw the exhibits and the animals lined up but he wouldn't stay for any of it so I didn't have too much fair experience in my early years. We've had a lot of things happen out here, we could almost write a book...I guess about the funniest thing I could think of, we had a person that had a booth for marijuana for medicinal purposes. Of course they paid the money for the booth so we couldn't rule them out. We got a lot of complaints from the public on it being there. One fellow came into the office one night where I was working. He was just raving about it. He said, 'I'll go down there and tear the thing out myself.' I told him you better not. You'll be in trouble with the police if you do. He thought a moment, he banged his fist on the counter and he said, 'this is a free country, they shouldn't be here'."
Suzette Gilchrist
"I love the animals, especially the horses. All I wanted to do was be around the horses. I had several friends who were older and they would enter their horses. They were out in the arena and they were riding their horses. I thought that was the most wonderful thing I'd ever seen in my life."
Charlee Lyon
"Coming to the fair like when I was four. I rode some little rides and I talked to the clown. I got my face painted and some balloons. It was really fun!"
WINNING RIBBONS
Rebecca Stuart
"My most exciting time at the fair was the year that I won the purple ribbon for cookies and discovered I was going to get to take them to the state fair. That was a pretty high point there."
Ada Whaley
"We'd enter cakes or cookies or embroidery. We use to make a lot of cookies and breads, zucchini bread. I got blue ribbons on a lot of things I did."
FAIR FOOD
Suzette Gilchrist
"Our church started the Dragon Ears booth because they needed a fund raiser...They'd have church members volunteer...My husband and I volunteered and we came out like 6:00 in the morning because you have to keep the vat going. I remember standing over this vat all day. I thought I've been cooked myself...I'll never forget that vat. It's just a basic dough, like a pizza dough. In fact many times they would have these hunks of dough and they would have to sit and rise. Then you would start to pull it. We had some people who could twirl them just like pizza. You didn't want them as thin as pizza but you didn't want them too thick because if they're too thick, then they're too doughy. Sometimes there would be holes. They put them in and you're dipping and moving them down, just like a production line. When it gets to the end, they just dip them out and let them drain, sugar them down with cinnamon and sugar. It just melts and becomes really crisp and the taste is really good."
Rebecca Stuart
"Don't forget the cinnamon rolls. The first time he comes out here after the food vendors have been set up he'll bring cinnamon rolls home that night."
Richard Stuart
"I always tell people it's embarrassing to go to another county fair and the cinnamon roll man sees me, calls me out by my first name.We pretty much have our favorites. We like the pork chops. We like the stand that has the pork barbeque sandwich. We have another stand that has taco salad and another stand that has a good meal every so often."
In 2001, Bloomington, Indiana area residents photographed subjects of personal significance in the everyday lives of people with disabilities. Participating photographers were people with and without disabilities, including those who had never before used a camera and those who had many years' experience doing photography. Participants also told their stories following completion of the project. Contact the project coordinator.
To see the stories and photographs, click on the links below.
Part of the series "Streets of Bloomington 2009," this is an hour-long audio documentary featuring narratives from four people in Bloomington, Indiana struggling with poverty and homelessness. Poverty in Bloomington has risen at an alarming rate, according to the latest data from the U.S. Census Bureau. The newest report claims poverty in Bloomington grew from 34.7 percent in 2006 to 41.6 percent in 2007, a seven percent increase in a single year. Produced by Jennifer Jameson, Chad Carrothers, and Andy Shaw in partnership with the Shalom Center and Indiana University’s Leadership, Ethics, & Social Action program.
"I expect I pretty much grew up with it. It was 4-H, exhibiting products that we made during the summer and then we went to the fair...Our products then were clothing and baking. Not too much else because I didn't take any animals to the fair. We didn't have anything like as many projects as the 4-H kids have available to them now."
