The News-Herald, Friday, July 2,1993
Life was different
aimost 100 years
ago for resident
Atlantic District Fairgrounds
The Atlantic District Fair Association has maintained these
grounds on Holloman Avenue in Ahoskie for 73 years. Among
the festivities planned for this fair in September is standardbred
horse racing on the half-mile oval track.
73-year-old Atlantic District Fair
promotes agriculture, citizenship
By Clarence S. Newsome
ADFA President
The Atlantic District Fair Asso
ciation was organized Oct. 28,
1919, with headquarters in Ahoskie.
W.D. Brown of Winion was elected
temporary chairman.
A board of directors, consisting
of 13 members, was elected Nov.
11, 1919. and capital stock of
$10,000 was established.
On Dec. 16, 1919, the capital
stock was increased to $20,000.
Other members of the board of di
rectors were Wright J. Jenkins, J.S.
Sills, C.P. McGlohon, C.S. Yeates
and J.E. Hall, all of Ahoskie; C.C.
Watson of Harrcllsville; G.C. Reid
of Murfreesboro; P.A. Bishop and
W.S. Creecy, both of Rich Square;
G.W. Watford of Colcrain; Luke
Moore of Coficld; and C.D. Nick-
ens of Winton.
Then the stockholders relieved
Brown as temporary chairman, and
Wright J. Jenkins, great-uncle of
the current president, was elected
the first president of the Atlantic
District Fair Association.
At the end of December the asso
ciation provided the president with
the necessary amount of money to
pay on real estate as due by or on
Jan. 1, 1920.
25-acre plot bought
Subsequently, a 25-acrc plot of
pristine property was purchased to
become the fairgrounds. It is on the
north side of East Holloman Av
enue, just west of the campus of
Robert L. Vann School.
The association's meeting on Jan.
12, 1920, was highlighted by a re
port from the bylaws committee
which, after reiterating the name
and home office of the association,
stipulated that "the object of the
Association shall be: To promote
the Agricultural, Industrial, Educa
tional and Moral development of
the people."
The following month, on Feb.
16, the association received its char
ter of incorporation.
Some years after formulating the
original objective of the Atlantic
District Fair Association and after
having been approved by the North
Carolina Department of Agriculture
and having become a member of the
North Carolina Association of
Agricultural Fairs, the bylaws were
modified to say that the aims and
purposes of the association shall
be: ,
• 1, To cooperate with the North
Carolina Department of Agriculture
and the North Carolina Association
of Agricultural Fairs.
• 2, To promote the development
and improvement of the community
in the areas of economics, envi
ronmental protection and human
resources.
• 3, To foster programs and activ
ities which will develop leadership
and promote the general welfare of
the citizens of the area.
On Sept. 28, 1920, an advertis
ing committee was appointed, and
the general secretary. Brown, was
empowered to appoint a race track
committee.
The early years
In the early years, before the state
made health requirements necessary
for the handling of food, many
stockholder families owned wooden
concession stands which they oper
ated for a minimal fee paid to the
association. The stands were oper
ated in a line on the southwest side
of the midway, close to the fence.
Also, constructed out of wood,
was a combination grandstand and a
two-story exhibition building, a
judges' stand across the racetrack in
front of the grandstand, stalls for
livestock and many stables for race
horses in the far northwest comer of
the fairgrounds.
In 1947, a SOO-scat brick and ma
sonry grandstand and two-story ex
hibit building were constructed to
replace the wooden structure that
had been destroyed by fire. Later a
cement-block judges' stand, multi-
unit concession stand and 30 race
horse stables were constructed to
replace wooden structures.
Since 1920, the Atlantic District
Fairgrounds have been the site of
such recreational and commercial
activities as baseball games. Fourth
of July celebrations, outdoor Easter
events, picnics, cookouts, a landing
strip for aircraft, family reunions,
(See FAIR, Page 19A)
Life was different for Mrs, Vancie
Flood Parker as a child than it is for
children of today.
This is her story as it was told to
the R.L. Vann School Junior
Historians in 1983 almost 100
years after her birth.
They had horses and carts instead
of cars for transportation.
Mrs. Parker lived in Winton, near
C.S. Brown School, one of seven
children in the family. They worked
on a farm, although they didn’t
always live on one.
She worked for 30 cents a day,
from sunrise to sundown, chopping
the fields with a hoe. The family
worked in cotton, corn and peanuts.
Later they worked in tobacco. But
she worked one day in tobacco, and
that was enough.
Kerosene lamps, stoves
Mrs. Parker's early home had
kerosene lamps for light and wood
stoves to cook and to keep warm.
The toilet was outside — as most
were in those days. Newspapers and
magazines were used for tissue.
Ice boxes — not electric refrigera
tors — kept food cool. A man
would come around selling ice that
home owners would buy and store
in the ice boxes.
When family members got sick,
other relatives would \iy to take
care of them as best they could. For
a cold or cough, turpentine would
be mixed with sugar and swallowed,
and tallow (fat meat) would be
rubbed on the chest. For fevers, a
"planter's lead” would be crushed
and put on the head.
Mrs. Parker attended Waters
Training School, which is today's
C.S. Brown School. She lived
close enough to walk to school and
go home for lunch, but some
students boarded there. The school
had a well for water and a coal stove
for heat.
School was fun for her. It began
at about 8:30 a.m., when the bell
was rung.
Children who lived out of town
would be brought to school by their
parents. They would stay in the
dormitory and go home on the
weekend or the end of the month.
The students were taught the
three R’s — reading, writing and
arithmetic. Mrs. Parker finished the
second year of high school.
She got a job as a cook at one of
the two hotels in Winton. She also
helped her family around the house.
Parents make everything
Her parents made everything they
needed, including pillows and mat
tresses. To make pillows, they
would use soft downy feathers from
chickens, geese, turkeys and ducks,
saving the feathers until they had
enough. Mothers would hand down
their mattresses or pillows when
the children married.
Sometimes, Mrs. Parker said,
they would order from catalogs. The
goods would come by train. They
could go to Norfolk by train to
shop, leaving at 5 a.m. and getting
back at 8 p.m.
The railroad came through
Ahoskie in 1885. Many passengers
and merchants used it. It would
have four or five passenger cars and
then some for parcels.
The first car that her father
bought was an Overland in 1910.
Likes to play outside
"1 used to love to play out of
doors," Mrs. Parker said. "We
played baseball, and I rode horse
back. 1 had dolls to play with —
both China dolls and rag dolls. My
playmate was Annie Parker, whose
father was The Herald newspaper
man.
"My earliest school was heated
with a tin heater. It was in a
wooden building that was on the
corner where The (former) News-
Herald is today. The school went
through the eighth grade. In the
ninth, I went to Chowan to attend
high school. 1 specialized in art and
music. I went there for four-and-a-
half years and then stopped to get
married.
"When I went to Chowan, I
would go from here to Tunis on the
train, gel on a boat called the
Calumet and ride it to Murfrees
boro. Someone from the college
would meet the boat and take us in
a carriage up the hill to the col
lege."
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123 Rhue Street
Ahoskie
332-3130
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