08/19/2026
Hello all,
During this year’s fair, we had the opportunity to dedicate our new livestock show ring and the many improvements made to our livestock facilities. It was a historic and meaningful moment for the Menard County Fair.
As part of the dedication, I had the honor of giving a few remarks about what this project means to our fair, recognizing those whose generosity made it possible, and thanking the community whose support has helped make the fair what it is today.
Afterward, several people asked if I would share my remarks here. I was a little hesitant to share it, because the day was never about the speech—it was about the people who made the project possible. But after being asked again, I decided it was worth sharing.
Below is the speech I gave that morning, along with a few photos showing where we started and where we are today.
Thank you all for your continued support of the Menard County Fair.
Ben Hollis
President
Menard County Fair, Inc.
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Good morning, everyone.
Thank you all for being here as we dedicate these improvements to the Menard County Fair livestock facilities. While the new show ring is certainly the centerpiece of this project, it represents something much larger—a commitment to the future of the young people who exhibit at our fair.
For more than 170 years, since 1855, the Menard County Fair has been an important part of this community. And since the fair found its permanent home on these grounds in 1869, generations of families have gathered here to exhibit livestock, celebrate agriculture, and build traditions that continue today. This project isn’t just about improving our facilities—it’s about preserving that legacy and ensuring those traditions continue for generations to come.
Before we dedicate these facilities, I’d like to recognize the generous supporters who helped make this project possible. In particular, we want to express our sincere gratitude to the Brooks family and the Cline family, whose extraordinary generosity made this vision a reality. We’d also like to thank the Menard County Farm Bureau and the Menard County United Fund for their generous support of this project. Every contribution, regardless of size, played an important role in bringing us to this day.
I’d also like to extend our sincere appreciation to the Menard County Board of Commissioners for their continued support of the Menard County Fair. Your partnership and commitment to this fair have helped ensure that it remains a place where our youth, our agricultural community, and our county can come together for generations to come.
As many of you know, the Menard County Fair has always been about much more than six days in July. It’s about providing opportunities for young people to learn responsibility, develop confidence, and experience the rewards that come from hard work and dedication. For generations, this fair has been a place where lifelong memories are made and lifelong values are learned.
When we began planning these improvements, we knew we weren’t simply building a show ring. We wanted to create livestock facilities that would better serve our exhibitors and their families for decades to come. Along with this beautiful new show ring, we’ve improved the barns, built new wash racks, repaired livestock pens, installed new bleachers and gates, and made countless other improvements that will benefit everyone who walks through these barns.
None of that would have been possible without people who believed in this vision. The Brooks and Cline families didn’t simply donate to a construction project—they invested in every young exhibitor who will lead an animal into this ring, every family that will cheer from these bleachers, and every child who will create memories here for years to come.
I’d also like to recognize our Fair Board members, staff, volunteers, and everyone who had a hand in bringing this vision to life. While generous donations made this project possible, it took countless hours of planning, fundraising, coordination, and hard work to transform an idea into what you see here today.
A sincere thank-you also goes to the contractors and businesses who brought this project to life through their skill and craftsmanship: Rex Clifton Construction, Cook Excavating & Tiling, Menard Electric, Pabst Electric, and CassComm. Your quality work will serve this fair and its exhibitors for many years to come.
I also want to give special recognition to our maintenance staff. While the contractors built these facilities, our maintenance team put in countless hours adding the finishing touches, completing the final details, and making sure everything was ready for our exhibitors. They take tremendous pride in this fair, and their dedication is reflected throughout these grounds. We are grateful for everything they’ve done.
I’d also like to thank the generations of exhibitors, livestock families, superintendents, and volunteers who believed in this fair long before these improvements became a reality. For many years, you showed here, volunteered here, and supported this fair with facilities that weren’t always what we wished they could be. You never let that diminish your commitment to our youth or to this fair.
Today’s dedication belongs to you, too. Your patience, your loyalty, and your belief in what this fair could become helped lay the foundation for everything we’re celebrating this morning.
I’ve had the privilege of serving on this Fair Board since 2007, and this year marks my 10th year as President. During that time, I’ve seen this organization at both its most difficult and its most rewarding moments.
I’ve spent a lot of my life on these fairgrounds, and I can honestly say this is one of the most meaningful days I’ve experienced here. There are moments in life when you stop and realize you’re witnessing something you never thought you’d see, and for me, this is one of those moments.
When I joined the Fair Board in 2007, I never imagined we’d one day be standing here dedicating facilities like these. At that time, our focus wasn’t on building new buildings—it was on simply keeping the fair moving forward. To stand here today and see how far we’ve come is incredibly humbling.
Every decision we’ve made has been guided by one goal: to leave this fair better than we found it. This transformation isn’t because of any one person. It’s because of dedicated board members, hardworking staff, generous volunteers, talented contractors, loyal sponsors, committed donors, exhibitors, livestock families, and a community that refused to let this fair merely survive—it chose to help it grow. Together, we’ve built something that will serve our youth and this community for generations to come.
County fairs don’t build themselves. They are built by people who care enough to give their time, their talents, and their resources.
I hope years from now, when today’s exhibitors are bringing their own children back to this fair, they’ll still be using these facilities and know that this community believed in them. If that happens, then every hour of work, every dollar donated, and every challenge along the way will have been worth it.
To the Brooks family, the Cline family, the Menard County Farm Bureau, the Menard County United Fund, and the Menard County Board of Commissioners—thank you for believing in this fair, for believing in our youth, and for helping make this vision a reality. We will do our very best to be worthy stewards of the investment you’ve made in this fair and in our youth.
Thank you, and please join me in giving the Brooks family, the Cline family, the Menard County Farm Bureau, the Menard County United Fund, the Menard County Board of Commissioners, our contractors, our Fair Board, staff, volunteers, maintenance team, and everyone who helped make this vision a reality a well-deserved round of applause.
