In spite of a weather forecast of several inches of snowfall predicted for the next day, on Friday, March 23, 2018, some current and past Whiteside County Fair Board members were thinking happily of spring and summer planters, to adorn entrances to the blue and brown commercial buildings.
Around 11:00 a.m., Morrison High School Agriculture instructor and Future Farmers of America (FFA) advisor William “Buddy” Haas transported nine-of-ten FFA members to the Whiteside County Fairgrounds to do some heavy lifting. Youths carried six, wood, planter boxes from a hay rack and stacked them in one of the Cattle Barns. On Monday, March 19, students had completed their construction project. The tiered containers will remain protected until they can be transported on site and planted. Old planter boxes on the grounds are deteriorating and unsightly.
First, students approached the Fair Board seeking a worthwhile, volunteer project. Next, they designed the levels and parts and shared the plan with the Board. Revisions were made. The third stage was determination of how much wood and how many screws were needed, as well as the cost. (The Fair Board paid for the materials.) The fourth action was drafting a step-by-step plan for construction.
In the “second or third week of January,” recalled Hass, construction began. “They used 90 2x4x10’s and some 1×6’s,” he noted.
Current and past Fair Board members in the back row, left-to-right, included Mike Wiersema, Brian Oostenryk, Jr., Brian Oostenryk, Sr., Paul Vock, Dan Heusinkveld, and Rob Vegter. Students are listed alphabetically: girls, Hannah Linder, Kaylee Shetler, and Mackenzie Stoecker; boys, Ben Brackemyer, Nate Bush, Griffin DuBois, Wade Hackbarth, Keegan Manard, and Brevin Pruis. Tristan DeMay was absent.
Fair Board Mary Beth Dombroski said, “We will enjoy the hard work Buddy and the kids did and are looking forward to filling them with flowers.” Wiersema reported the planters will be decorated by LuEllen Lee’s 4-H group, Cottonwood Club. They also add plants to decorate the sign and other spots on the Fair Grounds. The beautiful effect will be a collaborative labor of love by local youth.