Withers family marks 100 years at Canfield Fair

CANFIELD

Back when Howard “Beanie” Withers started showing cattle at the Canfield Fair, the journey to the fair and back was a two-day ordeal.

Though the Withers family farm was relatively close to the fairgrounds, the group traveled to the fair on foot.

Today, the Withers’ journey to the fair is shorter, but their presence has grown into a tradition that Steve Moff, fair cattle superintendent, calls “unique.”

That’s because this marks the 100th year that Withers Honey Creek Farms — a 400-acre dairy farm in Petersburg that’s operated by Beanie’s son, Gordon “Gordie” Withers and Gordie’s son Howie — is showing its milking shorthorns at the fair.

Gordie and his wife, Beverly – surrounded by a slew of family members gathered in one of the dairy cattle barns – reflected on the milestone.

“This is home. And it’s a neater, bigger, better county fair than any you’ll go to,” said Gordie. “It’s a good experience. You meet a lot of people and make a lot of friends.”

Beverly pointed out a photo board attached to a barn wall, where dozens of pictures chronicle the family’s life in the farming business.

In one photo dated 1929, Beanie gazes at his wife, Gracie, from a barn stall as she sits perched atop a haystack. In another, Gordie’s granddaughter Ruby — then a baby — nestles up against a calf in a stall.

“We’ve been around and back again,” remarked Gordie, staring at the photo board.

Read more about this fair family in Thursday's Vindicator or on Vindy.com.