Early Stalwart Fair spectators include local residents and descendants of the Fair’s founders, (from left) Beatrice (Morrison) Lawfkin, Emily (Sims) Kinnee, Margaret (McLeod) Chown, and Sue (Crawford) Hewer. The date of the photograph is unknown, but is estimated to be sometime between the 1920s and 1940s. (Photograph courtesy Pickford Area Preservationists) Stalwart’s Centennial Fair lived up to its name this weekend, September 8 through September 11, serving as the last tangible reminder of a town given a name that means “strong, sturdy, resolute, and firm.” The town store and post office closed years ago, but homes and farms still pepper the countryside that meant a new beginning for the area’s first Scottish and Canadian settlers. According to historic accounts, the first handful of settlers came to Stalwart in the summer of 1878 by way of Pickford. They cut a trail through the woods to get there, established homesteads, farms, and the post office that bore the name of the town until 1995. The Hanna family reported getting household goods by way of the Prentiss Bay trail that extended south from Stalwart, to a bay near Cedarville where goods were shipped. The trail has become Prentiss Bay Road, but is still not much more than a gravel two-track that winds through thick woods.

An old image of the Stalwart Fairgrounds in the 1930s or 1940s shows the old dining hall on the grounds that used to seat 30 people at the annual fair dinner. The exhibit hall can be seen at the left of the dining hall, where people are gathered around an automobile. (Photograph courtesy of the Pickford Area Preservationists) The fair was established 27 years after the first homesteaders settled, giving residents of the independent community a place to show off their skills in the field, garden, and home. Residents in the first few years walked, rode horses, or came by horse and buggy or wagon to the Orange Hall, where the former Stalwart Grange organized the modest event. Events were added and the fair grew to such proportions that the Grange Society turned the reins over to the new Stalwart Agricultural Society, which was organized between 1909 and 1911. Raber, Pickford, and DeTour townships in Chippewa County, and Clark Township in Mackinac County were included in the Stalwart Agricultural Society’s coverage area. The existing fairgrounds, racetrack, and buildings were purchased and constructed between 1916 and 1930. A dining hall was built to accommodate up to 30 people and the kitchen that fed fairgoers. Electricity came to the fairgrounds in 1938. The fair was moved from October to mid-September, then to earlier in September. It is now held the second weekend in September.

Travis Rye (left) and his brother, Tyler, start antique engines for spectators at the Stalwart Fair Saturday, September 10. Both boys attend Pickford Public Schools. When searching for historic images for the Stalwart Fair Centennial booklet, the Pickford Area Preservationists came across few photographs. Preservationist Mary Jane Pennington said few people could afford cameras in the first 50 years or so of the fair, but the precious few images they have show fairgrounds that look much the same as today. The photographs they found, including historic horsepulling images, were displayed at the fairgrounds Friday and Saturday.

Jason Storey of Stalwart and his horse team won the heavyweight horsepulling contest Saturday, September 10, at the 100th Stalwart Fair. The area’s connection to horses persists through modern fairs, where old fashioned horse and pony pulls continue alongside newer speed and action contests. A growing interest in horsemanship among children and teens, and their involvement with the Eastern Upper Peninsula Horse Association, gives a boost to the horse competitions, which continue through Sunday afternoon, after the Fair.

Rain Saturday, September 10, shut down some of the events on the Fair’s biggest day. An exhibit of antique machinery by members of the Eastern Upper Peninsula Antique Equipment Association was covered most of the day, but was revealed late in the afternoon, once skies cleared. Two of the youngest exhibitors, Travis and Tyler Rye of Pickford, attracted quite a bit of attention showing their engines to a group of interested friends. The 10-year-old brothers bought their engines with money from selling livestock, they said, and they have learned to maintain and operate the machines themselves. They exhibited engines from the 1930s to 1940s that were used to power washing machines and a water pump. Both boys said they have another three engines each at home, and this is the first year they have exhibited. They also pulled in the youth lawn and garden tractor pull, another event hosted by the Antique Equipment Association. Tyler Rye has two tractors and Travis Rye has one, but plans to have three by next year.

The Stalwart horsepulls always fill the stands, and heavyweight pull rounded out activities Saturday afternoon. Many, if not all, of the local pullers are members of the 141-member Michigan Horsepulling Boat Association, which endorses 41 horsepulling events around the state, including four in the Eastern Upper Peninsula. Members travel around the state to attend pulls like the ones here, and member Mary Kay Darnell estimated that puller Duane Lowe of Vermontville probably traveled the farthest, about 400 miles, to participate in the Stalwart pull. She speculated that the price of gasoline this year may have deterred other pullers, who have numbered as many as 16 in the past.

Over at Stalwart Presbyterian Church, volunteers marked their biggest year, serving turkey and ham dinner to 1,000 people in the church’s new Fellowship Hall Friday and Saturday. Members wondered whether it was the Centennial or the rain that pushed dinner numbers about 300 past the usual amount of 600 to 700 served.

The Stalwart Fair ended Sunday morning, September 11, with the 13th Annual Stalwart Presbyterian Church’s outdoor service.

A list of winners in some of the fair’s events follows:

Horse Show Trophy Winners

The Stalwart Fair Horse Show was Friday morning, September 9. Results in the various show categories follow.

Best Horse Under Saddle - Sharolyn Reed; Best Team - George Davis; Best Four-Year-Old Mare or Gelding - Callie Smith. Overall Horsemanship Trophy - Alyssa McCord. Horsemanship Under Saddle for Pony Under 54 inches: First - Abbie Galloway, Second - Nick DePlonty. Horsemanship Under Saddle (15-19) for Horse Over 54 inches: First - Alanna Wojnaroski, Second - Shawn Leach. Pony Under 54 inches Halter Class: First - Jonathan Kamper, Second - Abbie Galloway, Third - Nick DePlonty. Pony Showmanship Under 54 inches: First - Jonathan Kamper, Second - Abbie Galloway, Third - Nick DePlonty. Horsemanship Over 54 inches Halter Class: First - Heather Kamper, Second - Teresa Kamper, Third - Megan Arbic. Horsemanship 54 inch Halter Class (15-19) Alanna Wojnaroski. Miniature Team Three Year Old and Over: First - Linda English, Second - Karin Pingatore. Draft Team: George Davis. Lady Driver: First - Becky Davis, Second - Linda English, Third - Barbara Zeller. Regular Brood Mare: First - Connie DePlonty. Regular Three Years and Under Filly or Gelding: First - Connie DePlonty, Second - Shawn Leach. Regular Four Years and Over Mare: First - Sharon King, Second - Connie DePlonty, Third - Julie Hall. Regular Four Years and Over Gelding: First - Callie Smith, Second - Karin Pingatore, Third - Sharolyn Reed, Fourth - Tammi Kokko-Wojnaroski. Regular Four Years and Over Stallion: First - Karin Pingatore.

Speed and Action Horse Contest

The following competitors in the Saturday, September 10, Speed and Action contest won High Point Trophies at the Stalwart Fair (listed by age division): Age 18 and Older on Horse - Tie between Russ Sherlund of Cedarville and his son, Andrew Sherlund, also of Cedarvillle. Age 13-17 - Krista Esslin of Goetzville and Tiffany McCord of Pickford. Age 12 and Younger - Teresa Kamper of Pickford. Age 6-12 on Pony - Nick DePlonty of Sault Ste. Marie.

Youth Lawn and Garden Tractor Pull

Rain changed the format of Saturday morning’s tractor pull, which started a bit earlier as organizers from the Eastern Upper Peninsula Antique Equipment Association tried to work around the wet track and damp competitors. Despite the rain, the event attracted 13 lawn and garden tractors that were operated by as many hardy kids.

First place division winners received trophies, and every participant received a coupon for a free ice cream cone from the Pickford Grange Concessions.

0-600 Pound Division : First - Caitlyn Hancock of Rudyard; Second - Logan Fegan of Brimley; Third - Jonathan Kamper of Pickford; Fourth - Fran Gagnon of Pickford; Fifth - Dustin Rye of Pickford. 601-800 Pound Turf Division : First - Tyler Rye of Pickford; Second - Dustin Rye of Pickford; 601-800 Pound Bar Division: First - Tyler Rye of Pickford; Second - Jonathan Kamper of Pickford; Third - Travis Rye of Pickford; Fourth - Jake Batho of Pickford; Logan Fegan of Brimley. 801-1000 Pound Division: Logan Fegan of Brimley was the only competitor in this division, so she won the trophy.

Lightweight Horsepull

First and Second - Mike Hughes of Nashville; Third - Jim Cripe of Goetzville; Fourth - John Auvenshine of Eaton Rapids; Fifth - Louis DuBord of Lowell, Indiana; Sixth - Robert Cripe of Bark River.

Heavyweight Horsepull

First - Jason Storey of Stalwart with a full pull (27 feet, 6 inches) at 7,000 pounds; Second - Don Darnell of Morley with 24 feet, 8 inches on 7,000 pounds; Third - Larry Reed of Bear Lake with 13 feet, 6 inches on 7,000 pounds; Fourth - Larry Moblo driving the Alfred Moblo team of East Jordan with 13 feet on 7,000 pounds; Fifth - Duane Lowe of Vermontville with 7 feet, 4 inches; Sixth - Ben Reed of Bear Lake with six feet on 7,000 pound; Seventh - Jim Cripe of Goetzville with 3 feet, 1 inch on 6,500 pounds; Eighth - Randy Hall of Pickford with 3 feet, 6 inches on 6,000 pounds; Ninth - Joe Harrison of Stalwart who crossed on 5,000 pounds and passed on subsequent pulls.

The Horsemanship Award went to Larry Reed of Bear Lake.

Pony Pull - Lightweight Ponies

First - Louie Jurek; Second and Third - Larry Arsenault of Champion.