Daily 4 pm to 10 pm - Saturday 12 pm to 12 am
251-947-3247 - 251-947-3492
February 22, 2008 Click here for Directions
The 58th Annual Baldwin County Fair will be the first fair
held in the spacious new 38,000 square foot Baldwin County
Coliseum! There is ample air-conditioned exhibit space for the
Creative Living and commercial displays, locked and safely presented
under a camera surveillance system. The food and entertainment
areas provide seating comfort for the entire family.
The permanent amenities designed for your use include
covered entrances, registration booths, power and internet connections,
restrooms, and water fountains in the dual lobbies on the
front and back of the building.
The 79,000 square foot arena is the largest open-air arena
in the southeast. It will host the Professional Cowboys Association
Rodeos, The Antique Tractor Show and livestock exhibits.
The Fair has three new features this year. One will be the
PAY ONE PRICE DAY on Tuesday, September 23, 2008 all over
36 inches will pay $10.00 admission and unlimited rides on the midway.
The second is the addition of the STAR FAMILY CIRCUS, performing
daily. Who doesn't love a circus? The third will be a Heritage
Display Room, highlighting the way of life in years past.
Baldwin County citizens have many individual skills and
creative talents, and the County Fair is a good place to showcase
your handiwork. Please take advantage of the opportunity to enter
one of the many competitions in the Fair. It will be both educational
and entertaining and contributes to our agricultural heritage.
Thanks to all of the dedicated volunteers who make the Fair
so successful each year!
Peggy Keith Worley
Fair Volunteer since 1986
Peggy Worley attended her first Baldwin County Fair in the fall of 1986, as she went to enter an exhibit in the Food Preservation
Department, Canned Goods Division. Her new friend and neighbor, Ms. Helen Bauer, was serving as the president of the Sonora Community
Homemakers Club, and invited Peggy to become a member. It was the beginning of a long standing commitment as a Fair volunteer, and
club member. Traditionally, the Sonora Community Homemakers Club volunteers to received the Fair entries in the Adult Arts & Crafts &
Hobbies Department. Today, Peggy holds the longest continuous membership in the club and volunteers regulararly
As newcomers to Baldwin County from Chouteau Island, Illinoisi, Peggy and husband Bill had their first vacation visit to Gulf Port,
Mississippi, in 1979. Seeking a warm vacation spot, on arrival day they had traveled from a temperature of 18 degrees to a warm 68 degrees
in Long Beach, Mississippi. Friends encouraged them to visit their beach house on Fort Morgan Road, and that visit was when they fell in
love with Baldwin County.
Peggy worked for three years with McDonald Douglas, now the Boeing Corporation, as a Mechanical Electrical Radar employee.
Many years of farming and raising hogs in the bitter Illinois cold weather had taught Peggy to get through the rough times in life. She and
her sons raised 500-600 feeder pigs, and a herd of pure bred Angus beef cattle, while Bill worked in an automobile industry plant in St.
Louis, Missouri. Bill started out working in the General Motors Automotive Division and later was transferred to Bowling Green, Kentucky
at the Corvette Plant as a journeyman millwright He retired in 1982 with thirty years employment.
In 1973, a two hundred year high flood wiped out their home, leaving only the hog barn and machine shed. Their home was located
six miles south of the mouth of the Illinois River and one quarter mile south of the Missouri River. The flood totally covered their roof in
excess of four inches. Their sons had worked for a neighbor, who owned the Oliver Tractor Dealership and had a large Quonset hut building. Peggy's family and many others were allowed
to store their remaining personal items in the building.
In 1986, they became permanent residents and bought a home in Summerdale, Alabama where they reside today. Their property has beautiful Japanese Persimmons, azaleas, camellias,
and a greenhouse for her many more fragrant flowers creating a garden like setting. Peggy says that it was the friendly folks, and farming community that made then feel at home
here. Because of the people and the beautiful countryside, they would not want to live anywhere else.
If you know Peggy, you already know of her warm and friendly personality. Both she and Bill have contributed many hours of their time and efforts volunteering and serving the
community. She is a Past President of the Sonora Homemakers Club, Robertsdale Garden Club, the Baldwin County Cattlewomen's Organization, and served three years on the Baldwin
Heritage Museum Board of Directors. She and Bill attend the Robertsdale United Methodist Church, where they served for four years as luncheon hosts for the Wonderful Wednesday's
Meetings.
In addition to her many talents, to be blessed with a taste of one of her delicious cakes is sheer delight! Of her many specialties, the Fall Fruit Cakes made with Baldwin County
Pecans are the most famous.
Peggy and Bill often make return trips to their former home territory to visit their son and daughters and five grand children, mostly for family reunions.
Peggy says, " If all children could spend one summer on a working hog farm, that would benefit them to learn where food comes from and be a valuable lifelong lesson."
