Crawford County Fair to feature biblical horse whisperer

story by Marla Cantrell
[email protected]

Horse whisperer Ted Nowland will be at the 89th annual Crawford County Fair to break a horse using principles found in the New Testament.

Nowland, from Beggs, Okla., will not see the animal before the demonstration begins. He usually starts by reading scripture, letting the horse come to him, and then watching for signs, such as an audible sigh and a cocked back leg, to know he’s on the right track.

This year will be his first appearance at the fair.

“The show with the horse whisperer is going to happen on Saturday, September 18. It’s supposed to be pretty spectacular,” Marla Keady, Crawford County fair board member, said.

The county fair will be held at Kirksey Park in Mulberry from Sept. 13 through 18. The five-day event is filled with pageants, including a new category for tiny princesses ages three and four. Other contests include Ms. Senior Crawford County, Crawford County Queen, Miss Teen Crawford County, Junior Miss Crawford County, Little Miss Crawford County, and the Crawford County Princess.

“The winner of the queen contest gets a $1,000 scholarship to the University of Arkansas at Fort Smith,” Keady said. “It’s a really great boost to their education. And I just had one of my winners participate in the Miss Arkansas pageant.”

Keady, who returned to Crawford County after spending two decades in Missouri and Oregon, has been on the fair board for five years. She and the other members, along with 50 volunteers, put the annual event together. For Keady, it was a chance to give back to the town where she grew up.

“When I was six I was first runner up in princess pageant in ‘73, and my sister was princess in ’65,” Keady said. “I graduated from Mulberry. I love this place.”

There are livestock competitions, and an auction at the end of the fair. Local musicians play gospel and bluegrass music, performers take the stage for a youth talent contest, and a food drive helps fill a church pantry in Mountainburg. Residents display arts and crafts, show off their horses, and enter their dogs in a juried show.

The carnival rides are always a hit, and the food has become famous in the town.

“Everybody wants to get their hands on the Lion’s Club burgers,” Keady said. “People wait for them every year.”

Last year attendance reached 15,000 in the town of just 1,700. The cost for admittance is $3 for adults, and $1 for children 12 to 5. The money earned at the fair goes into a fund to be used in the next fair.

Steven Keady, who helps his wife Marla, said county fairs are an important part of our heritage.

“With urbanization, these fairs struggle to maintain their relevance,” Steven Keady said. “Our lives are so busy. The whole county comes together. And anybody in the county can enter canning, fruit, art, knitting. It’s not just about livestock. And our 4-H kids do everything from archery to robotics. It’s the one time to go back to your roots.  It’s the chance for a kid to get a blue ribbon. I don’t think a kid ever forgets winning a blue ribbon.”