offered a menu similar to the church’s (chicken and noodles instead of beef and noodles). She also volunteered at her children’s 4-H stand.

It was lots of work but also lots of fun, or at least it was for my buddies and me. During my teenage years, I was in the thick of it all. Even though my family belonged to a Springfield church, I’d nagged my parents into switching to Chatham Methodist because so many of my friends from school went there. We could hardly wait until we were old enough to work at the fair stand. We weren’t paid and weren’t supposed to keep any tips, but it couldn’t have mattered less. By then my friends and I had figured out which were the prime shifts and jockeyed among ourselves to sign up for them. The trick was to work with friends, while avoiding shifts managed by those adults we regarded as being overly strict and cantankerous – and who I now realize were undoubtedly that way because of having to keep a bunch of teenagers on task. There was also potential for romance: working the same shift with a boy or girl on whom someone had a crush could be an effective catalyst.

Not only was there the close proximity and camaraderie of the stand, but also the opportunity to oh, so casually, suggest going to hear one of the rock bands, ride some rides, or just wander around together when the shift ended.

Ironically, it was an onslaught of food-safety regulations that drove local food purveyors from the fair while somehow not affecting the commercial greasy spoons. Beginning in the late ’60s, each year brought new restrictions and requirements. Suddenly only stainless-steel equipment could be used, which, for Chatham Methodist (and others), meant replacing a fleet of enameled roasters. Then plumbing regulations changed. The death knell was the requirement that all food be prepared on the premises.

By the early ’70s, local noncommercial food stands had virtually disappeared.

There are good eats at today’s fairs — especially since the Ethnic Village appeared — and hopefully all those regulations make commercial fair circuit eateries a safer bet than they used to be, but it saddens me that what we think of as Illinois State Fair food is now the same (mostly junk) food found in every other fair in the country, that we’ve lost the food stands and their community of volunteers that were a big part of what made our state fair uniquely the Illinois State Fair.

Contact Julianne Glatz at [email protected].

Pictures of the Chatham United Methodist Church Fair stand can be seen online at www.illinoistimes.com