A Tradition Born of Community
The Hillsdale County Fair was born in 1851, when farmers and civic leaders created the Hillsdale County Agricultural Society. Its purpose was simple but profound: to bring together the people of Hillsdale County for an exhibition of crops, livestock, tools, and ideas. That first fair was held on the courthouse lawn in Hillsdale, before moving to dedicated fairgrounds that became one of the county’s central civic spaces.
From the beginning, the fair was about more than agriculture. It was about community identity. Families came together, competed for premiums, and celebrated their shared way of life. The fair became known as “The Most Popular Fair on Earth,” a nickname that stuck because it captured the event’s deep connection to Hillsdale’s people.
Politics in the Midst of Agriculture
In the mid-19th century, county fairs across Michigan were de facto civic forums. Before radio, mass newspapers, or modern roads, there were few opportunities to gather hundreds or thousands of people in one place. Fairs filled that role. Politicians and reformers seized the opportunity: speeches were given under shade trees, candidates mingled with farmers near cattle barns, and campaigners distributed pamphlets beside stalls of apples and corn.
Hillsdale was especially important. In the 1840s, it hosted fiery abolitionist lectures, with national figures drawing crowds to the courthouse square. In the 1850s, Hillsdale became a hub of Republican Party organizing. The first Republican state convention was held in nearby Jackson in 1854, but the groundwork was laid by counties like Hillsdale, where citizens and farmers rallied against the spread of slavery. The county’s fair was one of the rare spaces where such debates naturally spilled into public life.
Even the fair’s founding documents were political: when the agricultural society organized its first constitution and by-laws, they were presented by Henry S. Mead, a state legislator from Hillsdale. From the very start, the fair was not just agricultural — it was political and civic, woven into the identity of the Republican Party at its birth.
The Fair Through the Generations
For decades, the fair was both spectacle and civic forum.
- 1850s–1860s: Farmers debated tariffs, railroad routes, and land policy under tents and in barns. In the shadow of the Civil War, fairs became places where loyalty, patriotism, and party allegiance were openly displayed.
- Late 19th century: Harness racing became a premier attraction, drawing crowds as large as the politicians who used the grandstands as speaking platforms. County newspapers often reported both prizewinners and political speeches side by side.
- 20th century: As the fair grew in size and reputation, political booths became as common as food stalls. Both major parties handed out flyers, pinned posters, and courted votes among the crowds. For many candidates, the fair was the single best chance to meet thousands of constituents face-to-face.
By the time the fair earned its nickname, “The Most Popular Fair on Earth,” it had long been recognized as more than a farm show. It was the heartbeat of county life — where agriculture, community, and politics converged.
The 2025 Incident
That centuries-old tradition came under strain this year.
The Hillsdale County Conservatives, a grassroots group challenging corruption and the entrenched Republican establishment, set up their booth at the fair. Their posters called attention to a county scandal: the County Clerk had admitted under oath in court to committing state and federal election crimes, yet the Sheriff and Prosecutor — both Republicans — had refused to investigate.
For the first four days, their booth stood without issue. On the fifth morning, the fair’s Director came by. She was polite, asked the Conservatives not to hand out flyers. They immediately complied. she thanked them, and the matter seemed settled.
But that evening, the situation changed. The building Superintendent stormed into the booth, angry and aggressive, demanding that the Conservatives pack up and leave. The group explained that they were no longer handing out flyers, in compliance with the Director’s request. The Superintendent pointed instead to the posters displayed on the booth’s board. At no time had the Director asked for those to be removed. When asked who gave him the authority to expel them, he refused to answer.
The Conservatives were forced to leave.
The President’s Contradictions
Afterward, the Vice Chair of the Conservatives spoke with the President of the Fair Board — who also happens to be the Undersheriff of Hillsdale County, the same office whose Sheriff has refused to investigate the Clerk’s admitted crimes.
The President admitted that he had personally instructed the Superintendent to have the booth removed. He justified this by claiming that the Conservatives had been told to take down their posters, which is untrue. He then insisted that the fair was a “community fair,” and that politics had no place there.
When pressed further, he contradicted himself, declaring: “This isn’t a community fair.” Minutes later, reminded of his own words, he changed course again and said the board would be voting to “take politics out of the fair” in the future.
The Vice Chair pointed out that politics were already present this year, and that the entire dispute rested on a misunderstanding. The President refused to hear it. He claimed the Conservatives had “violated a rule” — but when asked which rule, he could not answer.
The Vice Chair then highlighted the obvious double standard: both the Republican booth and the Democrat booth have, in past years, displayed flyers calling presidents felons and governors liars. The President shrugged this off, saying simply: “They can do that.”
Finally, he made the most revealing statement of all: that the board owns the fair and is not accountable to the community.
What the Law Says
That claim does not square with Michigan law.
The Hillsdale County Fair is operated by the Hillsdale County Agricultural Society, a nonprofit organized under Michigan’s Agricultural Society Act of 1855 (Act 80). The Act gives agricultural societies legal standing to own property, collect fees, and host fairs — but it also defines them as public-benefit organizations.
- Membership in the society is open to the public for a nominal fee, making it a community institution by design.
- The society is required to elect a board of directors and hold annual meetings where members may vote — a structure meant to ensure accountability.
- The fairgrounds themselves were historically part of Hillsdale’s original town plat, reinforcing the civic nature of the institution.
In short, the law was written to make agricultural societies accountable to their members and the community, not private clubs run at the whim of a few insiders. The President’s declaration that the board “owns the fair” and is “not accountable to the community” is not only historically false, but legally misleading.
The Fair as a Mirror of Cultural Controversy
Controversy at the fair is not new. In fact, it is a defining part of its role in the community.
Then vs. Now — Controversies at the Fair
| Then | Now (2025) |
|---|---|
| 1850s: Abolition and the founding of the Republican Party debated at fairs and public meetings. | Election integrity: Clerk admits crimes; Sheriff & Prosecutor refuse to investigate; Conservatives call it out at the fair. |
| 1860s: Civil War loyalty and patriotism on display — fairs became stages for defining community allegiance. | Community trust: The fair board President, also Undersheriff, silences dissent and declares the board unaccountable. |
| Early 1900s: Prohibition and temperance reformers clashed with their opponents at fairs. | Accountability vs. control: Flyers critical of officials banned, while establishment party booths retain free rein. |
| 1960s–1970s: Cultural divides over civil rights and Vietnam seeped into fairgrounds. | Modern divide: Establishment Republicans vs. grassroots Conservatives over corruption, speech, and who owns civic institutions. |
Every generation has fought its battles on the fairgrounds. The 2025 controversy is not a break from tradition — it is the continuation of it. Where earlier generations fought over slavery, prohibition, or war, today the fight is about corruption, accountability, and whether public institutions belong to the people or to a ruling elite.
The lesson is simple: when controversy erupts at the fair, it shows the fair is still doing its job. It remains the mirror of the community, the place where Hillsdale comes face-to-face with itself.
Establishment vs. Conservatives
This year’s controversy also cannot be separated from the larger battle unfolding in Hillsdale County.
For years, the Establishment Republican Party has wielded control over nearly every lever of power: county offices, law enforcement, the courts, and even institutions like the fair board. Their grip is not about party principles but about control. Anyone who speaks out against their abuses quickly finds themselves silenced, punished, or pushed aside.
The Hillsdale County Conservatives, by contrast, have built themselves as the people’s party — fighting for accountability, transparency, and a return to constitutional values. They have exposed corruption, challenged unlawful behavior, and stood up for ordinary residents. That has made them a target.
At the fair, this conflict came to a head. The Establishment Republicans could not tolerate a booth that publicly named their own officials as corrupt. Instead of allowing open debate — the very spirit on which the fair was founded — they used their positions to shut it down. The board President’s statement that the fair is “not accountable to the community” reveals the truth: the Establishment believes Hillsdale belongs to them, not to the people.
Why This Matters
The Hillsdale County Fair was once a proud community institution, where citizens gathered not just for agriculture and entertainment, but for civic life. To silence dissent there is not just to eject a booth — it is to erase part of Hillsdale’s living tradition. A fair without political discourse is not true to its roots.
The incident this year reveals how deeply the Establishment Republicans control the county. They silence voices that challenge them. They use government positions to attack those who dare to speak up. They claim private ownership over what has always been the people’s fair.
This is not only a local controversy. It is part of a broader struggle over whether our civic institutions belong to the people or to a political elite that rules without accountability.
What the Community Can Do
Here is what most residents do not realize: you already have legal standing in how the fair is run.
Under Michigan law, any resident can become a member of the Hillsdale County Agricultural Society by paying a small annual fee — typically $10. Membership is not symbolic. It gives you the right to:
- Attend the annual meeting.
- Vote on who serves on the Board of Directors.
- Introduce motions and hold the society accountable.
This means the fair does not belong to the Establishment Republicans alone. It belongs to every resident who takes the simple step of becoming a member. That is how the people can reclaim the fair — not only through protest, but by using the very laws the establishment wants you to forget.
What Comes Next
The date of the next Fair Board meeting is the forth Thursday of the month, Oct, 23, 7pm Fairgrounds. The Hillsdale County Conservatives will be attending, everyone is welcome.
We hold our meetings every first Thursday of the month — the next is October 2nd at 7 p.m. at 7 S. Manning. Everyone is welcome.
There, we will be discussing how to reclaim The Most Popular Fair on Earth for the people of our community — not those who would rule over them
in Liberty,
The Hillsdale Conservatives
Chair: Josh Gritzmaker
VC: Lance Lashaway
Leave a Reply to Anna Vitale Cancel reply