Fair Honors Five for Their Years of Service

Five individuals who have packed away their cameras, closed their notepads and hung up their headphones are being recognized this year by the Gillespie County Fair and Festivals Association.

Marc Bennett, Terry and Cathy Collier, Charles Feller and Yvonne Hartmann are being recognized for their combined 180-plus years of photographing and reporting on activities and events at the Gillespie County Fair Grounds.

“We chose to recognize these five individuals for their work over the years doing their job while also helping us,” said Edward Stroeher, president of the Gillespie County Fair and Festivals Association. “As we celebrate the 175th anniversary of Fredericksburg and the 133rd Gillespie County Fair, we thought this would be a good time to recognize Marc, Terry, Cathy, Charles, and Yvonne for their contributions to the fair association and to the community.”

Stroeher said, “They went above and beyond the call of duty and were always here when we needed them. We do appreciate all that they have done for us, for Fredericksburg and for Gillespie County.”

“We worked together as professionals but also built genuine friendships beyond the work that brought us together,” Stroeher said.

Marc, who is semi-retired and the owner of White Oak Studio, served as track photographer and official photographer for the directors and fair queen’s court along with other special events while Charles has spent the past 44 years doing radio broadcasting from the fair grounds on Radio Station KNAF.

Cathy and Terry along with Yvonne covered the fair association and its events for the Fredericksburg Standard-Radio Post.

Recognized for their years of service to the Gillespie County Fair and Festivals Association are, in front from left, Charles Feller and Yvonne Hartmann and (in back) Cathy Collier, Terry Collier and Marc Bennett. – Photo courtesy Gabriel Segura

MARC BENNETT

In the spring of 1985, shortly after I had moved to Fredericksburg, I got a call from Mike Sagebiel with the Gillespie County Fair and Festivals Association. He wanted to know if I was interested in taking the Winner Circle photos after each of their horse races at the fairgrounds during the summer.

That was the beginning of a long and wonderful relationship with so many people at the fair association.

For the last 30 years or so, I must have taken the official photos of every fair queen, duchess, float, and president, of the Gillespie County Fair. Not to mention hundreds of Winner Circle photos, and then contracting to do the official photo finish of every horse race once we went pari-mutuel.

Some the best memories of my life were of Saturday night during the fair. Listening to great music, shuffling around the dance floor, serving beer at a bar shift, and stocking ice and beer in the coolers at a frantic pace during Saturday night.

There are a lot of great stories I could tell about my times at the fairgrounds, and the friends that I have made there.

The year that Patrick Kunz was president, someone had the idea for me to use his official president photo and lampoon it -- use Photoshop to make his face look funny. We had buttons made of his altered hilarious face for us all to wear during Fair Night. That was a fun surprise for President Kunz!

The tradition of an Official Lampoon Photo of the president continues to this day. I’m working on Edward’s right now.

I sure did have some fun times at the fairgrounds – met some of my best friends – and drank a few beers too!

Work hard, play hard.

CATHY COLLIER

Now, Fredericksburg’s streets are filled each weekend – and much of the time during the week – with visitors here to enjoy all the wonderful attractions and events that Gillespie County has to offer.

But when Terry and I moved here in 1973, the Gillespie County Fair WAS the big event of the year. Our very first weekend here, as we moved into a cute little house on Centre Street, one of my strongest memories is of hearing the announcer for the races at the old fairgrounds – where H-E-B is located today. You could hear the roar of the crowds as the horses neared the finish line. It sounded like great fun and I couldn’t wait to go.

I loved that the old fairgrounds – with its graceful grandstands and well-aged structures – was located right in the heart of town. Two things were clear: Gillespie County loved to have fun and they appreciated their heritage.

Fast forward to 1985. When I retired from teaching and went to work for the newspaper, I began to see the fair from the inside. This time, as well, two things were clear. Regardless of where the fairgrounds were located, people still loved to have fun and appreciate their heritage. But I was also able to understand just how many human resources and how much hard work went into making the fair happen.

Yvonne Hartmann and I were often the lucky ones who had duty in the exhibition hall – where we tried unsuccessfully to talk the ladies into letting us be judges for the baking contest and where people were proud of their prize pickles or giant squash or bundle of hay. We watched children shyly come to see if they had won a ribbon for a piece of art or cookie entry. We watched older veterans of the fair competitions beam with pride no matter whether they were winning for the first time or the umpteenth time. I was awed by the artistry of the weavers, the quilters, the painters – all of it.

I was also lucky enough to get an insiders break when – during the hottest part of an August afternoon in the exhibition hall – Yvonne would grab my arm and take me into the beer cooler where we could lower our internal temperature by 10 or 20 degrees.

For me, the horse races are always associated with the fair and, while I loved going as a spectator, it was also fun to be a roving photographer, catching people’s expressions as they won or lost, made their bets, visited with friends or watched the horses trying to choose a winner before each race.

Working at the newspaper, I was so lucky to be able to see the fair from both sides and to appreciate the efforts of everyone who made it happen. It struck me that no one was doing it to get their name or picture in the paper or to get a pat on the back. Instead, they took

part because it was fun, because it was a part of our community’s heritage, and because they just loved putting on an event that made memories.

TERRY COLLIER

My association with the Gillespie County Fair Association began with the 1974 fair – a few months after my wife, Cathy, and I had moved the previous fall to Fredericksburg for me to join the staff of the Fredericksburg Standard.

For the next 38 years until my retirement from the newspaper business here in 2012, I helped produce articles promoting fair association-sponsored-and-hosted events. Chief among these duties, besides writing articles, was the taking of photos of various fair events, especially during livestock shows, exhibitions and horse races held first at the old fairgrounds location where H-E-B now stands and later at the current fairground home.

Besides the pure satisfaction that I had over the years from doing my work as a reporterphotographer, working with the men and women of the fair association (which included many of the same people helping put on the community’s annual youth stock show) helped this city boy who grew up in San Antonio to meet some interesting people who were volunteering no small amount of their time, knowledge, and sweat for the sake of this Texas Hill Country community and the adults and children who both lived and visited here.

Personally, the real benefit was a decades-long education on what rural life really means, thanks to the genuine building blocks practiced here of trust, commitment, and strong character. For this, I have been most grateful for the lessons learned, friendships made, memories stored and actual fun the experience has afforded me.

From kneeling down for a deserving trophy photo in something coming from the “south end” of a prize-winning pig to hustling out of harm’s way when a young steer had enough of a halter, to squatting in the dirt along a race track railing, or perching atop a starting gate (before parimutuel) to get a unique photo the split-second horses break for the finish line, it’s been – from the start – an enriching, eye-opening experience.

And, lest I forget to give credit where credit is due, I need to