The 145th Annual Chautauqua County Fair will open Tuesday, July 21st and run through Sunday, July 26th at the fairgrounds on Central Ave. in Dunkirk. The chair of the fair’s Board of Directors, Linda Lanphere, says there’ll be excitement and fun for everyone including a midway filled with carnival rides, delicious ‘fair food’ and a grand assortment of grandstand shows. In the midst of all the hustle and bustle though, some poignant moments will unfold.

One of them will be at Noon on Wednesday, July 22nd in the Four-H Building when 16-year-old Kiah Dean of Irving will present a quilt she has made to her brother, Staff Sergeant Kory Irish (Ret.). Kiah sewed the quilt as a member of the Silver Creek Grape Stompers 4-H Club. The presentation is being made under the auspices of Quilts of Valor of the Chautauqua Region. Sgt. Irish served four years as a Marine and five years in the U.S. Army with a total of three overseas tours. He now works as a maintenance supervisor at the Collins Correctional Facility.

Kiah Dean said, “I’m very, very excited to make this presentation to my brother. We are very close. This is my first quilt. It took me over 30 hours to make it.”

Quilts of Valor is a national organization that makes quilts for veterans. Cindy Connor, the Quilts of Valor of the Chautauqua Region Coordinator, says Kiah’s quilt is one of more than 60 the local group has presented since it was founded 2½ years ago.

The 62nd annual 4-H Meat Animal Sale on Friday, July 24th will have its own moments of high emotion. 4-H members will take 27 beef steer, 59 hogs, 13 goats, 20 lambs and 42 pairs of chickens into the ring. The driving rhythm of the auctioneers generates thrills for the audience… and, hopefully, good returns for the 4-Hers who’ve invested time, money and energy in the raising of their animals. Dave Schauman, the 4-H Meat Animal Chairman, said, “Chautauqua County has always had a strong sale. We hope this year’s will be another one as we have many younger children participating and the cost of raising an animal has gone up.” The moment the bidding ends and the gavel falls can be one of profound mixed emotions, particularly for the youngest 4Hers: They’ve successfully raised and sold an animal… and now must let it go. The 4-H Meat Animal Sale officially starts at noon on Friday, with preliminaries and introductions at 11:30 AM.

4-H puts an emphasis on public presentation, and not just in the show arena. Public speaking is a fundamental component of the 4-H program and a number of the 4-H members participating in this year’s fair will ‘step to the front of the stage’ in the 4-H building and make a speech on a topic of their choice. It can be nerve wracking for a young person to speak to an audience that will include a couple of evaluators listening for every word and noting every gesture.

Two hundred fifty 4-H members from 16 clubs around Chautauqua County will have a part in this year’s Chautauqua County Fair. A total of 1204 exhibits will be on display in the 4-H building and there will be animal shows all week long in the Warren K. Brown and Mooney Harrington Show Arenas. 4-H is the Youth Development Program of Cornell Cooperative Extension. The Executive Director of Extension in Chautauqua County, Emily Reynolds, said, “We are very grateful to the fair for the opportunity it gives 4-H members to ‘show and grow’ every summer.”

The Chautauqua County Fair might offer some poignant moments for fairgoers as well, as it is one of the only times in the year when members of the non-farm community can talk one on one with a farmer, not to mention go eye to eye with a real cow. Chautauqua County has a robust and vibrant agricultural industry, filled with joys and challenges most of the community has no knowledge of. A little time in the barns or at the show arenas can be memorable and enlightening.

This year’s grandstand shows include demolition derbies on Tuesday and Saturday, the band NYRican Project on Wednesday, the Empire State Truck and Tractor Pull on Thursday, Cross Over the Line Bull Riding on Friday and a Monster Truck Show on Saturday. Long-time fair board member Dave Wilson says everything on the fairgrounds is ready, adding, “Just pray for good weather… all week long.” More information on all the events at the Chautauqua County Fair is available at chautauquacofair.org.

Editor’s Note: We are especially honored to feature Dennis Webster as a contributing writer. Dennis is a retired WJTN radio announcer who broadcast the “Farm Bureau Radio Show” for more than four decades, always including extensive coverage of the Chautauqua County Fair. His longtime advocacy for the agricultural community and his deep connection to the people and traditions of Chautauqua County agriculture make his perspective especially meaningful.

What is it like to be a farmer’s daughter, or son? To wear the label of “farm kid”? Being one myself, I can tell you it changes throughout your life time.

Your first memories will be of cows and tractors. You will know the sweet smell of the milk the calf eagerly drinks, the softness of their hair as you push your face into their necks and the roughness of their tongues as they mistake your fingers for nipples. You will know the smell of diesel fuel and soil, often as its own combined fragrance and be able to recall the vibration of the tractor seat you share with your dad while he lets you steer. There will be memories of tires on plastic as you “help” cover the silage pile. Meals brought to fields. The first time you see a calf be born. You will wonder why everyone doesn’t have a cow in their yard or a tractor in their driveway. The early years will be full of all that is special about being a farm kid.

And then you will realize the sacrifice that comes from your family’s chosen profession. You will notice your dad (or mom) doesn’t always make it to dinner, games or Christmas morning. You will notice the hushed conversations of adults talking about things like weather, milk prices, fuel prices and other bills and feel the worry. Because you are a teenager the sacrifice will be a burden and may breed resentment, even in the most resilient of farm kids. Who wants to toss hay on a warm summer day when their friends are at the lake? Who wants to try to hide the smell of cow manure with perfume or cologne because they had to work before they went to the basketball game with their friends? Why can’t their parents just leave the barn and not worry about a sick cow, whether the rain is coming, the payment that is due?

But then something magical will happen. You will be able to see all the farm gave you, all the experiences that are unique only to farm kids. You will hear the compliments on your work ethic in school, in sports, in 4H. You will see the farm through the eyes of visitors, friends, teachers and hear their astonishment at what your family does, see the excitement for the cows and tractors. You will find other farm kids and compare stories, realizing that you are not alone. You will be able to listen to the hard conversations and know the stories of how your family business survived the hard times. You will work beside grandparents, parents, aunts, uncles, siblings. You will share the laughter and the tears. And even if you don’t make the farm your full time occupation, even if the farm is no longer there, your heart will still be that of a farm kid. It will swell with a love and pride that only a farm kid knows when you talk of your days doing chores, of your time spent with family, of the precious lessons learned that shaped you into the person you are today. And you will realize the greatest gift is getting to be a farm kid.

Heather Woodis owns Country Ayre Farms, LLC in Dewittville with her husband, parents and brother. She manages the calves and the finances and loves working daily with her family.

The opening ceremony of the Chautauqua County Fair starts with a loud bang of the cannon. There is a significant history that surrounds the cannon with its connection to the county.

After the Civil War, Dunkirk’s iconic Brooks Locomotive Works (1869-1901) cast four brass cannons. They were brought and displayed at the fairgrounds on Central Ave. The cannons remained on display until WWII. During the war, brass was a precious metal in high demand. Three of the four cannons were sacrificed to the scrap yard. The lone remaining one stayed on the fairgrounds until the 1960’s. A gentleman from Fredonia by the name of Al Vercant took interest in the piece. He was a member of the North South Skirmish Association (a Civil War shooting and preservation based in Winchester Virginia.) Vercant rebuilt the carriage that it sits on today. Throughout the 1960’s–1970’s the cannon traveled back and forth where it won numerous national awards.

Today, you can see and hear the cannon kick off local events. It will begin the opening ceremony at its home at the Chautauqua County Fairgrounds. The ceremony begins on Tuesday at 10:30am. Let’s start the fair off with a bang.

Henry Leworthy is a past president and current honorary member of the Chautauqua County Fair Board. He is a third-generation Fair vendor and remains active in the Conservation and Education Center which was built and opened last year in memory of his late father, Renny Leworthy.

This week, at the Annual Chautauqua County Fair, our agricultural community is showcasing just a glimpse of its year-round hard work. Dedicated, resilient and passionate are all words I would use to describe anyone in the agricultural industry. Chautauqua County is blessed with a robust agricultural community right in our backyards, and this week matters to all of us. At the fair, you will mostly see animals, a huge part of the industry, but back at home we also have row crop farmers, fruit farmers, vegetable farmers, beekeepers, maple producers and so much more.

I was not born into an agricultural family, but agriculture is where I found myself. I grew up in the city of Erie, PA, where I could have cats and dogs, but legally, not so much as a chicken. I found my footing when I joined Chautauqua County 4-H at roughly 12 years old. I began with a dog, Ivy, my best friend, and by the time I aged out, it was hard to find me standing still on the fairgrounds — I had simply become too involved.

At some point, my dream of being a ballerina turned into something entirely different. My favorite color went from pinks to greens and yellows, and I wanted nothing more than to contribute to the agricultural industry — most importantly, to Chautauqua County’s — though I had no idea what that would look like. In true Cassie fashion, I embraced every experience, learned from every tip and trick shared with me, and counted myself lucky to find a few mentors along the way.

Back in 2011, I was aging out of 4-H and wondering where this journey would take me. I did not yet realize the mentors I had gained, the friendships that would last a lifetime, the experiences that would shape my future, or the foundation I was laying for the person I am today. I am not a big farmer — at this point, I am barely a hobby farmer — but my blood runs as green as the day I aged out of 4-H, or the day I graduated college with an agricultural degree.

Today, I represent Chautauqua County as a proud Farm Bureau Director, chair of the Chautauqua County Farm Bureau Promotion and Engagement Committee, chair of the Farmer-Neighbor Committee, a New York State Farm Bureau Promotion and Engagement Committee member, a Farm Credit East employee, a 4-H volunteer, the Open Clerk for the Chautauqua County Fair, and an occasional agricultural advocate writing for the Chautauqua Gazette. Looking at where I am today, I feel proud to represent and stand up for agriculture.

People often ask me why I do what I do, and whether it’s all worth it. When I reflect, I think of people like me — the ones who work hard before the sun rises until long after most are asleep, the 1% who make sure we all have food on our tables and clothes on our backs, produced through their own grit, determination and resilience. I find real pride in helping expose youth and adults to agriculture, in whatever way I can. At the end of the day, I am just one person doing my best to support the people who inspire me daily, and every night. I hope I have made them proud.

For a shy child, the world can often feel like a stage where they forgot their lines. The thought of raising a hand in class, let alone speaking to a stranger, can send a wave of panic through their chest. Yet, walk into a 4-H dairy barn on any given afternoon, and you will often find those exact same quiet kids doing things that would terrify many adults. Through the hands-on world of 4-H and agriculture, shy kids are discovering a profound truth: you do not have to stop being shy to do hard things.

In traditional youth activities, success is often measured by outward charisma—who can speak the loudest or capture the room’s attention. But agriculture operates on a different wavelength. A dairy heifer does not care if you are an introvert or extrovert. She cares about consistency, patience and the gentle, steady hand of someone she trusts. For a quiet child, a dairy project is both a shield and a bridge. When a shy kid stands in front of a judge in the show ring, they do not have to sell themselves; they simply have to showcase their animal. The heifer becomes a comfortable partner, giving them focus and purpose when words feel hard to find.

There is no better testing ground for this quiet courage than the county fair. At the Chautauqua County Fair in Dunkirk, months of quiet preparation culminate in a bustling, high-energy week. For a shy youth, stepping into the show arena clad in clean white pants and a white shirt is an act of sheer bravery. It is one thing to lead a growing calf in the quiet of an evening pasture; it is entirely another to walk a high spirited Holstein heifer through a crowded ring while maintaining constant eye contact with the judge.

Yet, year after year, quiet kids grip their leather halters, take a deep breath and step into the arena. Their hearts might be racing, and their hands might be shaking, but they do it anyway. They learn that courage is not the absence of fear, but the decision that their commitment to their animal is more important.

This courage to face the ring is built entirely on the relentless work ethic that dairy farming demands. Agriculture does not accommodate sleeping in or taking a day off. There are no days off when taking care of livestock. The kids are cleaning stalls, measuring out grain, washing coats to a pristine shine and spending hours training their heifers to lead smoothly. When a heifer is stubborn or a feeding routine must be meticulously adjusted, they must research, adapt and keep trying.

To the quiet kid standing at the edge of the barn, looking at the older, confident exhibitors and wondering if they will ever fit in: keep your chin up. True confidence is not a loud, overnight switch. It is a quiet ladder built slowly over time, rung by rung, out of the knowledge you acquire and the small successes you stack up day by day. Every early morning you spend learning the nutritional needs of your heifer, and every time you successfully guide her through a difficult training session, you are building an unshakeable foundation.

We often try to “cure” shyness in children, treating it as a hurdle to be overcome. But 4-H and the dairy barn teach a far better lesson. They show quiet kids that their quietness is actually a strength—allowing them to be keen observers, deep thinkers and incredibly patient caretakers. Through the grit of agricultural life and the challenge of the Chautauqua County Fair, these young people learn that they can do some of the hardest things imaginable—even if it is done quietly.

The below excerpt is taken from a portion of my recent book, “The Front Porch Promise.” The first part of the book recounts my life as a little girl growing up on my family farm in Cassadaga NY until tragedy struck our family and the farm was auctioned and our lives were changed forever. It is my hope that this submission will capture the hearts of readers and perhaps bring back precious memories of times gone by on family farms such as ours.

It was haying season on our family farm in the summer of 1959, the season of endless hard labor, profuse sweating, stinging sunburn, and persistent sneezing. No one was exempt from paying the physical price demanded by haying season. As hard as it was it was worth it. At the end of the day the reward was the sweet smell of fresh cut hay hovering over the farm like a freshly washed Irish lace curtain floating in a gentle breeze. Commercial air fresheners have never been able to duplicate the smell of a freshly filled haymow.

I was eight years old in 1959. I watched my father drive the Farmall H Tractor and fully loaded hay wagon up to the haymow ramp on the top of the hill. The hay bale elevator was stationed on the ramp. It was elevated to the highest point, indicating that the haymow was almost full. Daddy backed the hay wagon up to the ramp, positioning the wagon close to the elevator alongside the haying crew which included my two older sisters. Together, with the hired help and cousins, they formed the infamous hay bale processing line.

In retrospect, farm help during haying season bore a striking resemblance to a chain gang on a prison work release program. However, instead of wearing striped prison suits, they wore faded blue dungarees, calf-high work boots, white tee shirts with yellow perspiration stains under the arms and sweat-stained blue or red farmer’s bandanas tied around their foreheads.

They topped off the outfits with gray striped canvas work gloves that shrouded their hands and wrists up to and including their forearms. Even my sisters were chain-gang fashion savvy, forgoing the bandana in favor of pulling their hair back in tight ponytails and wearing loose-fitting cotton blouses in place of white tee shirts. I watched as the chain gang moved the hay bales off the wagon passing each bale down the line like a finely choreographed ballet performance, each bale gracefully floating from one person to another despite weighing between seventy and a hundred pounds each.

The bale would then be placed on the hay elevator to be carried upward like an escalator to the haymow. From there the final person in line would remove the bale from the elevator and pitch it to the unlucky sucker that was stuck with the shit-sandwich job of stacking the bales in the mow. This person was known as the “Stacking Sucker.”

The Stacking Sucker held an honorary degree in advanced engineering and organizational management and was intimately acquainted with proactive strategic planning long before strategic planning became an overused buzzword in the business world. There were three, possibly four, hay cuttings per season: early spring, early summer, late summer, and if lucky, depending on the weather, early fall. Each cutting varied in nutritional content. Some cuttings had more protein and roughage; other cuttings had less. We could ensure that each cow on our farm got the proper feeding combination of first, second, third or fourth hay cuttings, in part due to the brilliance of the Stacking Sucker who strategically stacked each bale in a designated area of the haymow according to the prescribed cutting time.

The Stacking Sucker was confined to a small crawl space the size of a tiny suitcase in a one-thousand-degree inferno inhaling thick hay dust with every breath, resulting in an overabundance of sticky hay boogers the size of boulders. If OSHA had existed in the 1950s, a visit by an OSHA inspector to the family farm would have culminated in an order to immediately cease operations. The working conditions bordered on inhumane, but farm kids never gave it a second thought. Their motto from birth was “Just do it” long before a famous shoe company claimed it as their advertising hook. During haying season, farm kids just did it, my sisters included—one bale at a time.

As I replay the scene in my adult mind, remembering that day in 1959, I have concluded that the only thing missing when the hay was off-loaded from the wagon was the sound of a full orchestra playing Swan Lake in the background with the hay bale chain gang dressed in pink tutus and wearing matching ballerina slippers. Not only was it a thing of beauty to observe, it was absolute confirmation that farm work and teamwork are not mutually exclusive and it was proof positive that on the ninth day God created “the family farm.” As a little girl I came to know in my heart that God looked down and observed the Runge family farm that day in 1959, now known as The Front Porch Promise Farm, and He declared it good—very, very good.

The tradition begins the moment you walk through the gates of the Chautauqua County Fairgrounds. Every July, roughly 65,000 men, women, and children walk the grounds of the six day event. Many community members donate their services to keep the fair alive. For a smaller group of individuals the 2026 Chautauqua County Fair began the moment the 2025 fair ended. These people receive no reimbursement of any kind — except the satisfaction of performing a public service. They contribute their time, effort, and often their own money to ensure the fair continues to thrive.

Chautauqua County Agricultural and Fair Association is a not-for-profit, stock-holding corporation that owns the property, maintains the buildings, and presents the fair on behalf of the county. It’s the board of directors and volunteers that are dedicated to having the event run smoothly. These public-spirited citizens make endless phone calls, coordinate countless minuscule details, and support the wide variety of events that are held on the grounds.

The fairgrounds themselves provide the largest single gathering place of its kind in the county. Throughout the year, the fair corporation makes some of these facilities on the grounds available for rental. The cost of the rentals usually only cover basic maintenance needs. Operating the grounds year-round requires the purchases of materials and services, and these expenditures are spread among businesses and industries.

Fair week, of course, brings the greatest activity and the greatest benefit to the community. Many local residents take part-time jobs during the fair week. Concessionaires, show workers, and out-of-town visitors spend money locally. Restaurants, hotels, and shops all share an economic boost that the fair brings to town each summer.

The fair corporation makes no financial profit. It is not intended to be a profit making organization. It simply provides the people of the county to showcase the fruit of their labor in a setting of entertainment and community engagement. Its sole hope is that the men, women, sponsors and the next generation continue this tradition for many years to come.

Henry Leworthy is a past president and current honorary member of the Chautauqua County Fair Board. He is a third-generation Fair vendor and remains active in the Conservation and Education Center which was built and opened last year in memory of his late father, Renny Leworthy.

As we celebrate our nation’s 250th anniversary, I find myself wondering what brought my husband’s ancestors, the Lesch family (originally spelled Loesch), to Dunkirk. Why did they decide this was where they wanted to build their lives?

Perhaps they followed family or friends from the old country. But I also believe the land itself played a role. Chautauqua County’s fertile soil, moderate summers and wet winters created ideal conditions for farming, and agriculture has always been at the heart of the Lesch family.

My husband, John, and I live on his Uncle James Lesch’s former farm in Fredonia. His parents, Dave and Irene Lesch, farmed in Cassadaga after purchasing their farm in the 1970s. Agriculture was a way of life throughout the family. Bill and Flossie Lesch raised cows and corn, Mary Ellen and Harry Center grew grapes and Gertrude “Boots” and Leonard Aldrich operated a dairy farm before opening Aldrich’s Beef and Dairy restaurant. Farming wasn’t just an occupation; it was their life.

That tradition was strengthened by William and Henrietta (Miller) Lesch. In 1936, Henrietta founded the Canadaway 4-H Club, which has remained active for nearly 90 years. I have had the privilege of serving as its leader for the past 18 years.

John and I have four sons, all of whom have been active in 4-H. Three have aged out and are now either working in agriculture or pursuing agricultural degrees. Our youngest is preparing for his next-to-last year as a 4-H member. Through the fair, our boys have experienced the excitement of competition, the pride of earning a blue ribbon, the disappointment of losing, the heartbreak of saying goodbye to a favorite market animal and the satisfaction that comes from a year’s worth of hard work coming together in one unforgettable week each July.

I hope our family’s story encourages you to visit the Chautauqua County Fair and support the young people who make it so special. Take a moment to appreciate not only the exhibitors, but also the parents, grandparents, volunteers and community members whose countless hours make the fair possible. It truly is a team effort.

Maybe there isn’t just one answer to why the Lesch family chose to settle here. Perhaps it wasn’t only the fertile land or familiar faces. Maybe they found what so many of us still find today: a place where a family could grow, put down roots and become part of a community that would help those roots flourish.

Heather Lesch grew up on a grain farm in southern Ohio and met her husband, John, while attending The Ohio State University. She married into the Lesch family in 1998, and they moved to Fredonia in 2001, where they are raising their four sons and continuing the family’s agricultural tradition.