DuQuoin State Fair
The DuQuoin State Fair is an annual festival, centering on the themes of agriculture and country music, hosted by the U.S. state of Illinois on a 1,200-acre fairground site adjacent to the southern Illinois town of Du Quoin. The state fair has been celebrated almost every year since 1923. Currently, the fair is held annually over an 11-day period concluding on Labor Day of each year. History and current events The DuQuoin Fair was organized in 1923 by William R. "W.R." Hayes and a consortium of Du Quoin developers. They promoted the private-sector enterprise as a short-duration race meeting specializing in harness racing. Starting with a half-mile track, the developer eventually built the mile-long DuQuoin State Fairgrounds Racetrack on the fairgrounds. The racetrack hosted the Hambletonian trotting event in 1957-1980 and the ''World Trotting Derby'' in 1981-2009. The racetrack is used today for ARCA and USAC motor sporting events. With the departure of the Hambletonia ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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DuQuoin State Fairgrounds Racetrack
DuQuoin State Fairgrounds Racetrack is a one-mile (1.6-km) clay oval motor racetrack in Du Quoin, Illinois, about southeast of St Louis, Missouri. It is a stop on the ARCA Menards Series, USAC Silver Crown Series and American Flat Track. History The DuQuoin State Fair was founded in 1923 by local businessman William R. "W.R." Hayes, who owned the fair and ran it. (It did not become run by the state of Illinois as a true "state fair" until the 1980s; it is now officially called the Illinois State Fair in DuQuoin, as opposed to the longtime one at state capital Springfield.) At the start Hayes had a half-mile harness-racing track on his 30-acre site, with wooden grandstands that seated 3000. In 1939 Hayes started buying adjoining stripmined land to develop its potential as parkland, replanting it and turning the strip pits into family-friendly ponds and lakes. He eventually expanded his little fairgrounds into 1200 acres. The DuQuoin "Magic Mile" racetrack was constructed on recl ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Agriculture
Agriculture or farming is the practice of cultivating plants and livestock. Agriculture was the key development in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that enabled people to live in cities. The history of agriculture began thousands of years ago. After gathering wild grains beginning at least 105,000 years ago, nascent farmers began to plant them around 11,500 years ago. Sheep, goats, pigs and cattle were domesticated over 10,000 years ago. Plants were independently cultivated in at least 11 regions of the world. Industrial agriculture based on large-scale monoculture in the twentieth century came to dominate agricultural output, though about 2 billion people still depended on subsistence agriculture. The major agricultural products can be broadly grouped into foods, fibers, fuels, and raw materials (such as rubber). Food classes include cereals (grains), vegetables, fruits, cooking oils, meat, milk, ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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United States Auto Club
The United States Auto Club (USAC) is one of the sanctioning bodies of auto racing in the United States. From 1956 to 1979, USAC sanctioned the List of USAC Championship Car seasons, United States National Championship, and from 1956 to 1997 the organization sanctioned the Indianapolis 500. Today, USAC serves as the sport governing body, sanctioning body for a number of racing series, including the Silver Crown Series, National Sprint Cars, National Midgets, Speed2 Midget Series, .25 Midget Series, Stadium Super Trucks, and Pirelli World Challenge. Seven-time USAC champion Levi Jones (racing driver), Levi Jones is USAC's Competition Director. History When the American Automobile Association (AAA) withdrew from auto racing after the 1955 season, citing the 1955 Le Mans disaster, Le Mans disaster and the death of Bill Vukovich at 1955 Indianapolis 500, Indianapolis as contributing factors, both the Sports Car Club of America, SCCA and NASCAR were mentioned as its potential success ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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State Fairs
State may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Literature * ''State Magazine'', a monthly magazine published by the U.S. Department of State * ''The State'' (newspaper), a daily newspaper in Columbia, South Carolina, United States * ''Our State'', a monthly magazine published in North Carolina and formerly called ''The State'' * The State (Larry Niven), a fictional future government in three novels by Larry Niven Music Groups and labels * States Records, an American record label * The State (band), Australian band previously known as the Cutters Albums * ''State'' (album), a 2013 album by Todd Rundgren * ''States'' (album), a 2013 album by the Paper Kites * ''States'', a 1991 album by Klinik * ''The State'' (album), a 1999 album by Nickelback Television * ''The State'' (American TV series), 1993 * ''The State'' (British TV series), 2017 Other * The State (comedy troupe), an American comedy troupe Law and politics * State (polity), a centralized political organizatio ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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September Events
September is the ninth month of the year in both the Julian and Gregorian calendars, the third of four months to have a length of 30 days, and the fourth of five months to have a length of fewer than 31 days. September in the Northern Hemisphere and March in the Southern Hemisphere are seasonally equivalent. In the Northern hemisphere, the beginning of the meteorological autumn is on 1 September. In the Southern hemisphere, the beginning of the meteorological spring is on 1 September. September marks the beginning of the ecclesiastical year in the Eastern Orthodox Church. It is the start of the academic year in many countries of the northern hemisphere, in which children go back to school after the summer break, sometimes on the first day of the month. September (from Latin ''septem'', "seven") was originally the seventh of ten months in the oldest known Roman calendar, the calendar of Romulus , with March (Latin '' Martius'') the first month of the year until p ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Fairs In Illinois
A fair (archaic: faire or fayre) is a gathering of people for a variety of entertainment or commercial activities. Fairs are typically temporary with scheduled times lasting from an afternoon to several weeks. Types Variations of fairs include: * Art fairs, including art exhibitions and arts festivals * County fair (USA) or county show (UK), a public agricultural show exhibiting the equipment, animals, sports and recreation associated with agriculture and animal husbandry. * Festival, an event ordinarily coordinated with a theme e.g. music, art, season, tradition, history, ethnicity, religion, or a national holiday. * Health fair, an event designed for outreach to provide basic preventive medicine and medical screening * Historical reenactments, including Renaissance fairs and Dickens fairs * Horse fair, an event where people buy and sell horses. * Job fair, event in which employers, recruiters, and schools give information to potential employees. * Regional or state fair, an ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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August Events
August is the eighth month of the year in the Julian and Gregorian calendars, and the fifth of seven months to have a length of 31 days. Its zodiac sign is Leo and was originally named ''Sextilis'' in Latin because it was the 6th month in the original ten-month Roman calendar under Romulus in 753 BC, with March being the first month of the year. About 700 BC, it became the eighth month when January and February were added to the year before March by King Numa Pompilius, who also gave it 29 days. Julius Caesar added two days when he created the Julian calendar in 46 BC (708 AUC), giving it its modern length of 31 days. In 8 BC, it was renamed in honor of Emperor Augustus. According to a Senatus consultum quoted by Macrobius, he chose this month because it was the time of several of his great triumphs, including the conquest of Egypt. Commonly repeated lore has it that August has 31 days because Augustus wanted his month to match the length of Julius Caesar's July, but t ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Southern Illinois
Southern Illinois, also known as Little Egypt, is the southern third of Illinois, principally along and south of Interstate 64. Although part of a Midwestern United States, Midwestern state, this region is aligned in culture more with that of the Upland South than the Midwest. Part of downstate Illinois, it is bordered by the two List of U.S. rivers by discharge, most voluminous rivers in the United States: the Mississippi River, Mississippi below its connecting Missouri River to the west and the Ohio River to the east and south with the Wabash River, Wabash as tributary. Southern Illinois' most populated city is Belleville, Illinois, Belleville at 44,478. Other principal cities include Alton, Illinois, Alton, Centralia, Illinois, Centralia, Collinsville, Illinois, Collinsville, Edwardsville, Illinois, Edwardsville, Glen Carbon, Illinois, Glen Carbon, Godfrey, Illinois, Godfrey, O'Fallon, Illinois, O'Fallon, Harrisburg, Illinois, Harrisburg, Herrin, Illinois, Herrin, West Frankfo ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Illinois Department Of Agriculture
The Illinois Department of Agriculture is the code department of the Illinois state government that regulates various facets of the agriculture industries of Illinois, oversees Illinois soil and water conservation, supervises the weights and measures of various commodity products, including gasoline, and supervises the Illinois State Fair."Illinois Blue Book: 2005-2006" (Springfield, Ill.: Illinois Secretary of State, 2006), pages 212-215. Agriculture industries that are supervised include the production of livestock, the growing of commodity crops such as corn and soybeans, and the regulation of grain elevators. Governor Bruce Rauner accepted the resignation of Agriculture Director Phil Nelson on September 25, 2015, effective 30 days later. State Fair Director Patrick Buchen resigned the same day, telling ''The State Journal-Register'', "I resigned because they fired (Nelson), and it's just a bunch of bull crap." Rauner appointed former State Representative Raymond Poe to the ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Hambletonian Stakes
The Hambletonian Stakes is a major American harness race for three-year-old trotting horses, named in honor of Hambletonian 10, a foundation sire of the Standardbred horse breed, also known as the "Father of the American Trotter." The first in the Triple Crown of Harness Racing for Trotters, the Hambletonian is currently held at the Meadowlands Racetrack in East Rutherford, New Jersey, on the first Saturday in August. Sites The Hambletonian first took place at the New York State Fair in Syracuse in 1926. The race switched from Syracuse to Lexington, Kentucky for the 1927 and 1929 races, however, because of rainouts. Starting in 1930, Good Time Park in Goshen, New York hosted the race until 1956 with the exception of 1943. That year, The Hambletonian was raced at Empire City Race Track, which became Yonkers Raceway in 1950, because of wartime gas rationing. The Du Quoin State Fair in Du Quoin, Illinois gained the rights to host the race in 1957 and held on to it until 1980. ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Automobile Racing Club Of America
The Automobile Racing Club of America (ARCA) is an auto racing sanctioning body in the United States, founded in 1953 by John Marcum. The current president of ARCA is Ron Drager, who took over the position in 1996 following the death of Bob Loga. The ARCA Menards Series races stock cars similar to those seen in past years in the NASCAR Cup Series, and indeed most cars used in the Menards Series were previously used in NASCAR. ARCA's competitors contain a mix of both professional racers and hobby racers alike, in addition to younger competitors trying to make a name for themselves, sometimes driving as part of a driver development program for a NASCAR team. ARCA Menards Series races are broadcast on Fox Sports 1, Fox Sports 2 or MAVTV, and they have been previously broadcast on ESPN, ESPN2, USA Network, TNN, Prime Network, CBS Sports Network, NBCSN, TBS and TNT. ARCA owns both the Toledo Speedway and Flat Rock Speedway. ARCA formerly sanctioned the ARCA Midget Series from ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Country Music
Country (also called country and western) is a genre of popular music that originated in the Southern and Southwestern United States in the early 1920s. It primarily derives from blues, church music such as Southern gospel and spirituals, old-time, and American folk music forms including Appalachian, Cajun, Creole, and the cowboy Western music styles of Hawaiian, New Mexico, Red Dirt, Tejano, and Texas country. Country music often consists of ballads and honky-tonk dance tunes with generally simple form, folk lyrics, and harmonies often accompanied by string instruments such as electric and acoustic guitars, steel guitars (such as pedal steels and dobros), banjos, and fiddles as well as harmonicas. Blues modes have been used extensively throughout its recorded history. The term ''country music'' gained popularity in the 1940s in preference to '' hillbilly music'', with "country music" being used today to describe many styles and subgenres. It came to encomp ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |