"Jimmy Lynch, Swiss high wire act recalled by Mr. County Fair" from the August 8, 1978 Door County Advocate
John Miles as fair secretary, 1968 —Hamann
Jimmy Lynch, Swiss high wire act recalled by Mr. County Fair
By JOHN ENIGL
Fifty years ago, a young bachelor named John Miles became secretary of the Door County Fair Association. He held that position from 1928 until 1971. In those years, other than his marriage to his beloved Margaret and his orchards, and his adopted church, nothing was more important to John than the Fair. At age 85, he is as enthusiastic about it as he was in his youth.
John came to Door county with his parents in 1914, when he was 21 years old. He went into the orchard business in 1916 and kept records in his "little blackbook" of the cherry prices and production from 1916 until 1963. He volunteered for, and served in, World War I.
John speaks with emotion of his conversion to the Catholic church. For 26 years, he was a trustee of St. Joseph church, and any church would be fortunate to have as devoted a worker. He showed that same dedication to his work as fair secretary.
Married at age 43; about the same time as his good friend, Grover Stapleton, John speaks highly of his wife. When she died in 1963, he went out of the orchard business, but retained the fair secretary's position until 1971.
At age 85, John is as alert, and dignified in appearance as he was in his youth. His manner of speaking is deliberate and clear, very similar to that of Dr. Grota, who did a program on personal health on WDOR for many years. He is not only a kind gentleman, but a man of strong convictions about what is right and what is wrong.
It was these characteristics; dignity, understanding of people, and ability to work with them, coupled with a great deal of business sense, that led to his being selected as fair secretary in 1928. He took on, along with County Agent Ben Rusy, the task of reviving a failing institution.
Stanley Greene, Door county's ranking historian, supplied me with some background on the Fair.
"The Fair Association was organized in 1865 and they had to wait four years until they got the appropriation from the state. They had the first fair in 1869.
"That particular organization died in 1893 when they went bankrupt and lost the property. From 1869 to 1893 they had 16 fairs. The first 10 or 11 years they had an annual fair. After that, in the 1880's, they only had three or four fairs, because there was no interest in it. The only time they could have a fair was when the Grand Army of the Republic (Civil War veterans) would have a gathering.
"Then there was a lapse of about a decade and a half before another association was organized, in 1906. It took them about two years to get organized because they had to get a new location and put up the buildings."
(The first fairgrounds was in the area of Sturgeon Bay lying north of Delaware st. and west of Cherry rd., across the street from the Sunset school. According to Greene and Miles, the outline of the race track could still be seen from an airplane in the early 1950's. John refers to the area as Buck Arle's park. Arle was a well known postal worker. The Knights of Columbus building is named for him.)
"The second association did not guarantee an annual fair, either. In 1925, 1926, and 1927 there were no fairs. Neither were there fairs in the World War II era years, 1944, 1945 and 1946. In those years, the shipyard (L. D. Smith, now Bay Ship) used the fair buildings and grounds for storage. Remember, that was the time of the polio epidemic and that caused cancellation of the fair."
I asked Greene about the fair held behind what is now the Mill Supper Club.
"That was the one held in 1907 by Barney Hahn on what I believe was the Hahn farm. Barney was a controversial person, a promoter. Apparently, he was displeased that a fair was not held immediately after formation of the new Association in 1906. You have to go through the old Door County Advocate and Door County Democrat files to see just what stir this caused."
(Aside, I wonder how many readers knew that there is a wonderful historical research room behind the front desk in the Door County Library in Sturgeon Bay. Here you can view microfilm of all the issues of the newspapers in Door County ever published, besides it being supplied with copies of books about the county. The librarians are most helpful and knowledgeable, too.)
My son David and I went to talk to John Miles about his many years as fair secretary, which began in 1928. Remember, the Fair had fallen on bad times. There hadn't even been a fair the previous three years.
"I give a lot of credit," John said, "to a fellow named Ben Rusy. Ben was a city boy, from Chicago, and had gone to agricultural college because of his interest in plants and animals. He was hired as county agent for Door county and hardly anyone knew he came, not from the farm, but from the city. Here he was, giving talks to farmers on how to run their farms and he had never farmed. However, he knew what he was talking about, because he was well trained.
"Ben Rusy's job was to take care of the agricultural displays and all parts of the fair related to farming. G. I. Mullendore later took over as county agent and Norb Schachtner has that position now.
"I was selected to be fair secretary and that meant that I was in charge of the grandstand shows and the midway."
I showed John a picture taken by Fred G. Berger many years ago at the fair. John identified it as probably having taken about 1928.
"We had some of the exhibits housed in tents at that time, as you can see," John explained.
On the left of the picture of a "baggage" vehicle; a model "T," oil lamp Ford from the late 'teens with the name "W. Hoerres" lettered on the side. I believe I have heard that Mr. Hoerres had a delivery business, and that be may have been hauling supplies to the fair that day. (The oil lamps served for parking lamps, not driving.)
After examining the picture for a long tune, I was able to make out the lettering on the building to the left of the picture: "Ladies Agricultural Hall—Dinner 50 cents." What a bargain in those pre-depression days!
Another of Fred Berger's pictures showed a high-wire act. The outline of one man's hat and another's cap dated the picture as being from the late 20's. I showed the picture to John.
"Yes, I had that one," John commented. That is a very interesting story. The act had three men. They were Swiss and only came over here in the summertime to give these shows. Every time they crossed that wire, it cost us $500 (per show). One fellow would go ahead on the wire, and another fellow would go behind him. They had a pole on their shoulders between them and poles to balance themselves. The third fellow would climb out and onto a chair placed between the two men. They did this to scare everybody.
"Incidentally, they wouldn't do the act under certain conditions, say if it was too windy. They were about 40 feet from the ground and didn't use a net.
"Very shortly after this, after a number of deaths, they were required to use nets, with about 40 men holding the net, so if they'd fall off the net would save them.
"Those outside poles for the rigging were put way down 15 or 20 feet and the hole filled with big rocks and all tamped in. They were great big wooden or steel poles.
"We paid them $500 for each show — $1500 for three shows. Now I think it costs three or four times as much."
In the background of the picture lies the area that is now the mobile home park, Thunder Hill Estates.
"Mike Reinert was our superintendent of speed for horse racing for many years. He was crazy about horses, and had the difficult job of setting the standards for the harness and other horse races," John continued.
The Tongs, for generations, (and yet today), have been known for their prowess in harness racing. Tommy Tong jr. has told me he would be willing to provide some information on this activity for a future story about the sport.
Carnivals? John says, "We always heard that some carnys were tough people, so I'd go around before the fair started and talk to them and lay down the rules. I told them I didn't want them taking advantage of the people who came to the fair, such as in high stake card games, shell games and such. "One day I went down the line and told four of them to roll down their curtain. We didn't have so much trouble after that."
The only picture I could find of the fair in my own album was dated Aug. 26, 1940. "We tried to avoid having the fair interfere with cherry season," John said. "But sometimes it interfered anyway. We usually knew within a couple of weeks when cherry season would be. Sometimes it was a nightmare for me when they were too close together.
"During fair time I'd have to be there nearly all the time. But I always went home at 5:00 and got an hour's rest. I needed that little time to recuperate. With that I was all right for the rest of the day."
I remember that day my brother, Charles Enigl and I went to the fair in 1940. We were with my cousin who came out from Pittsburgh, Pa., each summer, George McMahon. I believe my cousin from Chicago, Charles F. Mueller jr., was also along.
We drove to the fair in the McMahon's year old 1939 Dodge. Charles and I were looking at the new 1940 Massey Harris tractors when our picture was snapped by one of our cousins. At age 14 for me, and 11 for my brother, we didn't realize that the picture was a record for posterity, so we made faces at the camera.
Although a note on the back of the picture says the weather was rainy, evidently the rain wasn't enough to warrant taking down the flags in the background of the picture. The weather certainly cleared enough by afternoon to permit the Jimmy Lynch Auto Thrill show to go on.
"Jimmy Lynch was a fine gentleman," John says. "He personally would supervise the preparation of the track for the stunts. That was really something to see. There was danger in their act; lives were at stake. They had a big screen arrangement (we later made one of our own) made of wire netting. 'They had a big plank in front and one in the back and this device would stir up the stones in the track and bring them to the surface. Then they would go along with another device that would skim the stones off. You'd be surprised at how many stones they would find and we thought we had a stone-proof track."
Willard Zelhofer will remember the 1928 Chevrolet he used to drive being used in the Jimmy Lynch Dare Devil show after the War in a smash-up act, a predecessor of today's Demolition Derby. Mufflers were disconnected so as to create the effect of great speed. Glass was removed for safety. No roll bars were present, but drivers were strapped in. Willy's old Chevy was totaled in a blaze of glory by one of Jimmy Lynch's men. The War was over, and cars weren't so precious any more.
Jimmy Lynch explained to us at the 1940 show that a small fair such as ours didn't warrant piling up a new 1940 Dodge. After all they cost $800. Moeller's garage subsidized the show and Dodge provided the cars at cost as an excellent advertisement of their toughness.
Maybe that's why John Miles' cars were always Dodges until he quit driving.
Farm machinery shows? John Miles remembered when all the dealers had machinery on display.
"A fellow named Mark Schlise, from Forestville, I guess everyone in Door county has heard of him, put on a good show one year. He had International Harvester to back him up. They had a full line of machinery at the Fair, and I mean full. They had combines so big you couldn't use them around here.
"A parade of the farm machinery was conducted around the race track and it was really something to see!"
John, David, and I drove out to the fairgrounds after our discussion at John's Dorchester apartment. John asked that we drive up Georgia street, the route he took out there since 1928.
We stopped for a picture by the grandstand, with a sign proclaiming the August 9-13 fair dates.
"That grandstand was put up during my time as fair secretary. You can't put up a wooden grandstand like that today. It must be concrete, but wood is allowed for the seats," John told us.
"I toured 35 fairs in the state to find out how others handled my job."
We drove down the Midway and John pointed out the old and the new. He was proud of what he had done and the improvements that were made since he was secretary.
"Say that I think Bill Tong is doing a wonderful job in my place," John told me.
Bill Tong and Norb Schachtner have made it a point to invite John Miles to the fair on Friday and Sunday.
"About four hours is about what I can stand at my age," John says. But I have a feeling that John may still be going to the Fair when he is a hundred.
We stopped at the little park dedicated to John Miles. A plaque near the flagpole says: "In appreciation — John H. Miles, Mr. Door County Fair, 1928-1971."
What a thrill it was to tour that park with the person to whom it was dedicated. It will be a great memory for young David to tell about as he grows older.
When we dropped John off at his apartment I noted the prayer on his dresser that symbolizes this gentleman who brought so much pleasure to the residents and visitors of Door county:
My Prayer About Growing Old
Keep me from the fatal habit of thinking I must say something on every subject and on every occasion.
Release me from craving to straighten out everybody's affairs.
Make me thoughtful but not moody.
Help me not to be bossy.
With my vast store of wisdom it seems a pity not to use it all, but I want a few friends at the end.
This attitude pervaded John's life and it is not just a practice he follows during his older days. He is looking forward to seeing you at the Fair.
Courtesy of the Door County Library Newspaper Archive
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