August 15, 1958

Mary Gasperik Legacy Project; Susan Salser

Springfield, Illinois, United States

List of State Fair prize winners

State Fair Briefs

Mrs. Mary Gasperik of East Hazelcrest exhibited four appliqued quilts at the fair and was awarded three firsts and one second place. Mrs. Gasperik is confined to a wheel chair.

"Keep Trying" is the yard-strick of measurement for Kathy Bresler, 15-year-old daughter of Mr. and Mrs. William Bresler, 1715 N. 8th St. She won a blue ribbon for her oil painting entry of that title in the juvenile division. She will be a sophomore at Lanphier High School this fall.

One Springfield state fair exhibitor doesn't think a delivery man should have to pay to get into the fairgrounds at 2 a.m. The exhibitor said the deliveryman had called him shortly before that hour asking where he was to deliver the merchandise. The exhibitor told him he would meet him at the fair gate where it was to be delivered. The exhibitor drove through the gate, thinking the deliveryman was following, only to find he had been halted because he wouldn't pay the 50 cents admission. The exhibitor got out of his car, paid the 50 cents for the deliveryman, put the merchandise with his exhibit and returned home. He feels that fair officials "have gone too far" with this gate admission policy.

When an exhibitor wins a prize at the Illinois State Fair, he has a good chance to collect his winnings the same day. The process of paying off premium winners, under the office of State Auditor Elbert S. Smith, involves writing hundreds of warrants for the prized each day. If the vouchers for the warrants are cleared at the fairgrounds by noon, however, the prize winner can pick up his money the same day.