The Mower County Fair begins tomorrow, and Abraham Lincoln said we should attend it. This, at least, is the force of what he said in 1859 at such a fair. County fairs, much more than commercial expositions or even state fairs, bring us together as neighbors — whether rural or urban, farmers or laborers — so as to learn our differences and recognize our similarities.

Not yet president, Lincoln had begun to travel around the country away from his Springfield home and central Illinois judicial circuit, to get a feel for more distant neighbors and how he might serve them nationally. Because of some provocative statements he had made in Illinois about the relation of labor to farming, the officers of the Wisconsin Agricultural Society invited him to deliver a speech at the opening of its 1859 fair.

The Society held its annual fair on the west side of Milwaukee on grounds that would two years later become Camp Washburn where many of the Wisconsin volunteer regiments would muster for service in the Civil War. Not yet a state fair, it grew into this official status and moved farther out to West Allis. They held the 1859 fair in mid-August, just about the time we do each year here in Mower County.

The future president perceived such agricultural fairs as being socializing events more than promotion of agriculture. He observed what he called “an innate tendency within human beings” to be suspicious of strangers and hostile to outsiders. He practiced law in both towns and country, and he often represented a farmer against a merchant or a merchant against a farmer. But, he observed, when farmers and merchants meet at fairs, they find common interests. They focus on rgwaw interests and discover yet other commonalities.

Abraham Lincoln put it this way about fairs: “They bring us together, and thereby make us better acquainted, and better friends than we otherwise would be.”

Here we have Lincoln at his best: profound thinking in simple language. Fairs make strangers into friends by bringing them together around common interests.

I have seen people who live in the same neighborhood but never talk to each other in the neighborhood stand around at the fair for almost an hour and talk like family. You know the people you run into aren’t on the clock or heading for an appointment. They are there to meet people, and meeting you is why they are there.

You can examine products and even ask questions and feel at least somewhat less intimidated by a sales pitch. I’m amused to see a merchant in his booth trying to interest a potential customer when the person is greeted by an old friend. Then they stand blocking the booth, enjoying each other and ignoring the exhibitor.

Another funny thing is to stand where you can observe both the Republican and Democratic booths. As each is trying to interest a voter in his own candidate, he or she keeps on eye on the other booth to see whom they have on the line. A very nice thing to see is how nice and polite Republicans and Democrats are to each other at the fair.

When new pastors arrive in Mower County, I advise: Go out to the fairgrounds and walk from one end to the other and back again. Greet everyone you know, and talk to anyone who will talk to you. Do this everyday of the fair: once during the day and once in the evening.

People who rush past you at the church door embarrassed because they don’t know what to say will stand and talk with you like an old friend. People who would never come to your church, or to any church, will stop you and ask, “Aren’t you Rev….?” Strolling through the fair grounds with other ordinary people, you will finally be recognized as an ordinary person.

County fairs are much more informal and informative than commercial expositions. You drive off to the state fair to get away; you stroll around the county fair to get together.

So, let’s come together at the Mower County Fair. Let’s learn differences and recognize commonalities.

Father Abraham will be proud of us.