by Curtis Meier

While reading John Talbert’s report on the Texas State Fair in the July/August issue of the TBA Journal, I couldn’t help but think back about how all of this got started. It brought back, many memories.
I went to work for Dadant and Sons as manager of their branch in Paris, TX in November of 1958. I replaced Erwin Glew who moved to the new branch in Sioux City, Iowa. In the summer of 1959, I received a visit from G.O. Stroope and Leslie Atkins, commercial beekeepers of Waxahachie, TX. They informed me that Erwin Glew was head of the Fair Committee which was set up last year and since I took over his place at Dadant, I also got his job with the Fair Committee. The Fair Committee at that time was Erwin Glew, G.O. Stroope and Leslie Atkins of Waxahachie, W. M. “Marvin” Allen of Duncanville and Jim Petty of San Angelo. I believe Jim Petty was President of TBA at that time. In the summer of 1958, they met with Mr. Wilson (who was in charge of the Agriculture Building at the State Fair) to see about displaying bees and honey. Mr. Wilson liked the idea and agreed to giving them a space in the Agriculture Building. Erwin Glew (as told to me by G.O. Stroope) then explained to him that the Committee was short on funds and could the Fair Association help us out. Mr. Wilson wrote them a check for $50. The money was used to build a display rack. It was a stair-step design with about 5 or 6 levels and about 8 ft. long. Each year it was stored in Dadant’s warehouse. It was used for many years.
In the summer of 1959 (after meeting with G.O. and Leslie), I set up a meeting with Mr. Wilson to discuss again participating at the Fair. G.O., Leslie, Marvin and myself attended. G.O. had told me earlier that I had to
ask Mr. Wilson for $100 instead of $50. We found him in a good mood. He liked what was done in the previous year and gave us 8 X 10 pictures of the exhibit. I explained that we were planning to do more this year, but needed help. We appreciated the $50 last year, but could really use $100 this year. He wrote us a check for $100. We continued to get the $100 for 4 or 5 years, then Mr. Wilson retired and the payments stopped.
My first experience in helping set up the exhibit (1959) is well remembered. We had a big time that day getting it all set up and decorated with crepe paper. It was finished and Mr. Wilson stopped by to check out our booth. We all were admiring our work when Mr. Wilson asked “Is the crepe paper fireproof”? It wasn’t. We had to run all over Dallas looking for fireproof crepe paper. We then had to
completely redo the exhibit. I can laugh about it now, but it wasn’t funny then!
Burleson Honey Co. furnished all of the honey we needed for the display. They would deliver, as well as, pick it up after the Fair was over. There were years that Burleson Honey Company donated $500 to TBA for exhibiting their honey.
I remember one year we met with Mr. Wilson regarding changing the exhibit. We weren’t sure just what to do. He set up a meeting for us with a commercial interior decorator. He had several good ideas and helped with the one we decided on. That year we had jars hanging in the air. We used thin wire attached to the jar lid and tied to overhead 2 X 4’s. A very thin black netting was stretched across the front which made the honey jars appear to be suspended in mid air. The decorator furnished the material and the Fair Association picked up the bill. I’m mentioning all of this so you can see the change in 50 years. Now we have to pay the State Fair Association $1800 to do the same thing when they used to pay TBA.
We had permission to cut a hole in the brick wall of the Agriculture Building to make an escape route for the bees in the observation hive. This was used for a number of years until a lemonade stand (about a block away) got sloppy with their lemonade or syrup and the bees took over. They had to close down the stand. The next year it happened again, so the Fair Association informed us we had to close up the bees. We pleaded our case stating there were lots of other bees in the area and the lemonade stand was the problem…didn’t help.
W.M. Allen and his wife, furnished the bees and observation hive for those first few years. They also opened the booth each morning and stayed until relief arrived. Sometimes relief didn’t come, so they stayed until closing time. After Marvin became ill and passed away,
Luther Maserang and his wife of Fort Worth took his place. Luther and Moina became a big asset to the Fair Booth. They opened it up each morning and sometimes, closed it at night. They were very dedicated until the time he became ill and passed away.
Sometime in the late 80’s, Bob Stroope started furnishing the bees and taking care of the observation hive. He passed away in 1991, so that job has been handed down to others.
Some of the early key beekeepers who should be remembered for their dedication and service in keeping the State Fair Honey Booth going are: W.M. Allen

G.O. Stroope

Leslie Atkins

Erwin Glew

Jim and Mary Petty

Bob Stroope

Luther Maserang

Moina Maserang

All of these guys have passed away, but I remember them very well. They were customers of mine and more than that, personal friends. They were great beekeepers and loved promoting their favorite product…HONEY.