1946 – 2026 Watching Steinbach grow: Grunthal 4-H Club excels at ’63 Hanover Fair

From the time spectators began lining up for the parade in sweltering 90-degree plus heat, until two days later, when the last amateur-hour number was performed, the directors of the Hanover Agricultural Society agree the 1963 Hanover Fair was one of the most successful on record. An estimated 7,000 spectators attended the fair during its two-day stand.

Members of the Beausejour Boys’ Band led the parade down Main Street to the fairgrounds, where 4-H clubs marched into the show ring, before local and visiting dignitaries officially opened the fair, welcoming guests and exhibitors.

A member of the Grunthal Sunshine Clothing Club had been chosen as standard-bearer for the 4-H parade. That was the start of a pretty good day for the Grunthal 4-H Club.

Twelve years of painstaking work ended in triumph for two dedicated Grunthal 4-H club leaders, when the Grunthal club walked away with the biggest package of honors ever bestowed on a single club in a Southeast 4-H Rally.

It was the Sunshine Clothing Club all the way at the 1963 Hanover Fair, and if anyone was happier than the girls themselves, it was leader Elsie Janzen and assistant leader Luba Chornoboy. For Mrs Chornoboy, who helped found the club 12 years earlier, it was the crowning success of all her work. For Mrs Janzen there couldn’t have been a better reward for the hundreds of hours she had been putting in for the Grunthal club for the past seven years.

The Grunthal 4-H Club emerged as grand champion marchers in the 4-H parade and earned top honors in many of the events which followed.

The highest honor of the day came when judges chose the queen of the 4-H Rally from the Sunshiners’ ranks. Both princesses were Sunshine Club members as well, Marylyn Warkentin was crowned Queen of the Fashion Show, and Mary Epp and Irene Krahn were chosen princesses.

Of seven girls interviewed for the Eatons gold watch award, six were from the Grunthal club and the watch went to Nancy Feechuk, a Grunthal club member. Ken Loeppky of the Niverville Beef Club was the boys’ Eatons gold watch winner.

The 4-H fashion show was followed by a horse show with afternoon judging, topped off by a jumping competition during the first evening of the fair.

The competitors were all from Winnipeg, including a few that would be going south to compete in an American championship in August.

The skilled riders put on a great show for the spectators and the jumping competition would become a part of the Hanover Fair horse show for the next few years.

The 1963 livestock competition added to the success of the fair, with dairy stock entries more than double from a year ago.

A highlight during the afternoon of the second day, as always, was the auction sale of 4-H beef calves. The average price was 25.5 cents per pound, considered a good deal by buyers. Buyers from the packing houses noted that the beef calves had never been so well finished as they were this year.

The champion, owned by Jerry Friesen of the Hanover Beef Club, went under the hammer at 40 cents per pound. Last year, the champion fetched 45 cents per pound.

The only department in which fair entries were down was in the Home Ec. Section. Fair Secretary Irwin Nerbas blamed the decline on the high price of sugar, the extreme heat during the days preceding the fair, and the lateness of many gardens.

The Amateur Hour in the evening concluded the two-day event. A large crowd of spectators gave the popularity vote to a trio comprised of three Schroeder sisters from Kleefeld. Second in this event went to fiddlers Lorne Mehling and Jake Peters of Steinbach.