9-02-2024 10:41pm

REFLECTIONS AT THE

From Facebook:

Shout Out to WBAL Radio Scott Wykoff for this great post about the Maryland State Fair Museum in the Mosner Miller Building. The Museum is open during the Maryland State Fair, Thursday nights from 5 PM-8 PM and Saturdays, Sundays from www.marylandstatefair.com

Scott Wykoff is at Maryland State Fair.

· Timonium, MD · The Maryland State Fair is rich in history and a trip to State Fair Grounds for the “13 Best Days of Summer” is not complete without stopping by the State Fair Museum. It’s packed full of so many historical items that tell the amazing story of the incredible celebration of Maryland agriculture, delicious food, countless rides, carnival games of chance and so much more that the Maryland State Fair has been delivering for 143 years.

How about the story of Esskay Meats magnet & local businessman William Schluderberg literally saving the fair in 1950 by raising $500,000 in just a matter of days to purchase the 101-acres of fairgrounds property along York Road in Timonium to save it from development.

And how about the touching story of a young girl’s 1957 Jr. Grand Champion Heifer named Pearl that brought national attention to the Maryland State Fair with plans to give the heifer as a gift to President Dwight D. Eisenhower turned on a dime when Ike learned of 9 old Sharon Kay Stauffer’s love of the heifer she had grown so attached too.

While her grandfather even offered her a pony to part with Pearl, she couldn’t imagine parting with her champion heifer. Learning of her story, President Eisenhower, a big cattleman himself, wrote Kay a letter saying he understood her love of Pearl and instead would accept an offspring of the heifer. Both the President’s letter to her and her letter to President Eisenhower are on display in the museum. And BTW, Kay still got her pony too.

Thanks to state fair president Fran Burns for my tour of the Maryland State Fair Museum and sharing her amazing institutional knowledge of the fair she loves so much!