While the dignitaries of old may not grace the podiums or parade floats, the importance of local dairy farming is still paramount at the 6th Annual Chenango County Dairy Day, as will be the culture, history and future of the industry that helped build this area.
“It’s a celebration of the dairy industry,” said Cornell Cooperative Extension’s Janet Pfromm, one of this year’s organizers. “But it is also inclusive of all agriculture within the county.”
Taking place this Saturday at the Chenango County Fairgrounds, Dairy Day will be filled with special activities and exhibits such as milking, butter making, ice cream raffles, sheep sheering, horse drawn wagon rides, pedal tractor pulls, antique tractor balancing and rodeos, puppet shows, historical displays, and oxen teamwork demonstrations. The day begins with a parade at 11 a.m., which will start at the P&C parking lot and head down East Main Street to the fairgrounds.
“It’s free family fun,” Pfromm said, adding that the combined effort of volunteers from various agricultural organizations, businesses, and communities will make for a great educational experience. “It gives kids and parents a better idea of where their food actually comes from.”
Re-instated in 2001, Dairy Day has pursued to resurrect a tradition that never had the chance to carry on after its initial success.
When the first installment commenced on June 28, 1941, then-City of Norwich Mayor Frank Zuber proclaimed it would be the type of event by which to measure all others. “It is a good day for Norwich and good for Chenango County,” he said. “I predict that within two years it will be one of the biggest days in the state.”
Within two years America was knee-deep in World War II, and Dairy Day went by the wayside, not to appear again for another 60 years.
If asked then, during the county’s comparatively booming agricultural climate, event speakers such as Zuber, local Assemblyman Irving M. Ives, and then New York City District Attorney and eventual Governor Thomas Dewey probably would not have believed that such a day would so quickly go dormant, and for so long.
The first Chenango County Dairy Day was created, organized, and promoted by Herbert Jennings, a Norwich resident who traveled the country opening theaters as a General Manager for RKO studios. Using the day as a catalyst, Jennings, who is also credited with the creation of the Memphis Cotton Carnival (still in existence as “Carnival Memphis”), wanted to make Norwich a hub in the agriculture business.
“You don’t see it anymore, but Norwich was going to be the center of the dairy industry,” said the promoter’s son, Herb Jennings Jr. of South Plymouth, who at the age of 93 works for S&S TV and Appliances on East Main Street in Norwich. “If my dad hadn’t of died, he had so many things he wanted to do for Norwich.” According to his son, the elder Jennings hoped to utilize the city’s connection as the birthplace of Gail Borden Jr., considered the founder of the modern dairy industry, as a means to boost the county’s already outstanding reputation as a top dairy producer. “He wanted to put up a statue in the park of ‘Elsie,” Jennings said laughingly, referring to Borden’s mascot, Elsie the cow.
“This really was a big deal,” said one of the original dairy princesses from the first parade, Jean Dolgos of Norwich, then known as Jean Dolly from Sherburne. “I thought it was quite an experience for a young person. We got to meet people we probably would never have gotten to meet.” Dolgos remembered eating lunch with the who’s who of New York, and she thinks back to what an exciting honor it was to be a part of Dairy Day. “It really was a big deal,” she said. “It was a day that you wouldn’t forget.”
Dairy Day organizers hope that everyone will come join them on Saturday, and help to bring back the pride and recognition for the agricultural foundation of Chenango County. Pfromm says there is still time to participate in the parade or to put up an exhibit. She added that all parade entries will be judged based on “the people’s choice,” and that over $200 in prize money awaits the top entries. For more information or to sign up call Pfromm as 334-5841, extension 12.