Idaho County Fair celebrates farming heritage
Event opens today and Ivan and Dina Nuxoll will preside as grand marshals
COTTONWOOD – Ivan Nuxoll jokes that he and his wife, Dina, live in the “suburbs” of Greencreek.
That means the couple, who are this year’s Idaho County Fair grand marshals, live about a quarter-mile away from the hamlet’s hub, consisting of a Catholic church, a community center and an auto repair shop.
The Idaho County Fair begins today and continues through Saturday at Cottonwood, with 4-H livestock and home economics shows, food booths and a variety of entertainment.
“Yes, it’s a community,” Ivan Nuxoll, 77, said of Greencreek – the town his grandfather, Francis C. Nuxoll, homesteaded in 1895. “It’s beautiful. You can depend on the people and that’s the thing that I miss over in Oregon (where the couple spend part of their time on Dina Nuxoll’s family farm). You can’t really go down the street and have a conversation with anybody.”
Dina Nuxoll, 69, agrees only partially.
“I’ve been there for 45 years and I’m still not really a Greencreeker,” she said. When she moved to the Nuxoll farm shortly after she and Ivan were married in 1972, she was one of only two non-German Catholics in the community. Things have changed through the years and there is a tad more diversity, but the core demographic remains the same.
“That’s just the way it works,” Ivan Nuxoll said. “It’s not that we’re different, because Oregon’s the same way.”
But the Nuxolls point out that when somebody needs help, as one farmer did last year after having back surgery right before harvest, neighbors all pitch in to help out.
Twelve other farmers with their equipment and their wives loaded with food converged on the hospitalized farmer’s place and harvested his crops before moving on to their own fields.
It happens whenever there’s a need, the Nuxolls said.
The couple met when she was working as a home economics teacher at Grangeville High School and he was employed by Jordan Motors in Grangeville.
She needed car repairs. He helped out. One thing led to another, including a wedding in McMinnville, Ore., in the dead of winter, and they ended up on the family farm raising two children, Eric and Ellen.
Once they settled in Greencreek, the Nuxolls picked up the customs of their parents, who had been 4-H leaders in Greencreek and McMinnville. Dina Nuxoll handled sewing and cooking clubs, and Ivan helped out with the livestock groups.
“When I was in 4-H it was the Idaho County stock show,” located in a vacant lot toward the center of Cottonwood, Ivan Nuxoll said. Livestock was the main event, although there used to be a smattering of something besides livestock displayed at the nearby community center.
These days the fairgrounds has new buildings, clean, comfortable pens for the livestock, a roomy show arena, plenty of food venues, an open class exhibit hall and a large home economics building.
These are all good changes, the Nuxolls said, but the idea behind showing livestock then and now has also shifted.
“When I was in 4-H it was trying to make the most out of the least,” Ivan Nuxoll said. “Coming out of the Depression and the Second World War, it was tough going.
“Now you’ve got these pens and they’ve got these animals, done really well, and they’ll have what it cost you per pound for rate of gain. And it may be $1.69 per pound it cost them to get it up there. But they don’t factor in that if you take that to the livestock sale you may get 55 to 60 cents (a pound) for it. The money-making doesn’t work very well, but they still have the responsibility to take care of the animals.”
“And that’s a good thing,” Dina Nuxoll said. “That’s what it’s about – not so much about the money any more.”
The Nuxolls will preside over the fair’s ribbon-cutting ceremony.
| Nuxolls are grand marshals Idaho County Free Press “Bill Eimers was the Grangeville High School principal then,” Dina Nuxoll grinned. “He wasn’t going to let one of his teachers get mixed up with someone he didn’t approve of.”  “Well, I think I could have checked out OK with the FBI after that,” smiled Ivan. “It all worked out.” With more than 40 years of marriage under their belt, Ivan and Dina Nuxoll of Greencreek will serve as Idaho County Fair 2013 grand marshals. Dina was born and raised in McMinnville, Ore., and attended Linfield College there. She came to Grangeville to teach home economics in 1970. Ivan was born and raised on the family farm in Greencreek. He lives next door to the same house where he was born. His grandparents homesteaded there in 1895 and he has lived and/or worked there most all his life. He purchased the farm in the ‘70s. Ivan graduated from Greencreek High School and served for two years in the U.S. Army. At Greencreek he was taught by the nuns and learned to type in school, something not all boys could do at that time. He graduated in 1954, then volunteered for the draft in 1956, as he knew he would have to complete his time in the military at some point. He spent time in Germany as a wheeled-vehicle mechanic, but then, Dina said, it was discovered that he could type. “So I spent some time in the office and post office, too,” Ivan said. Upon returning home he worked the farm but also worked as a mechanic at Jordan Motors in Grangeville from 1959 to 1974. He and Dina married in 1972 and they soon purchased his parents’ farm and he went into full-time farming. The Nuxolls raised their two children, Eric and Ellen, on the farm and also managed Dina’s family ground in McMinnville. “I say we have roots in two states – both Idaho and Oregon,” she said. The couple still spends a lot of time in Oregon on the property there as well as on their Greencreek land. Eric graduated from Prairie High School in Cottonwood in 1993 and went on to the University of Idaho then to graduate school in Minnesota. He is currently a professor at the University of Iowa. He and his wife, Kim, have four children. Ellen graduated from PHS in 1996 and went on to the U of I, studying communi-cations. She received her masters at Portland State and is now employed by Linfield College, her mother’s alma mater. She and her husband, Mike, have two children. Throughout the years the Nuxolls spent time with their children and worked with them on 4-H livestock and other projects. Prior to the children beign involved in 4-H, Dina served as a club leader for Needles, Spoons and More. She also worked in a sewing club with Pat Schmidt. Ellen served as fair queen in 1995. Ivan’s family connection in 4-H goes back even farther as both he and his father participated in the Idaho County Stock Show, which is what it was called prior to being named the Idaho County Fair. The couple was on the Idaho County Centennial Committee and Ivan helped write several stories for Idaho County Voices. They belong to the historical society in Oregon, and at the county fair in Cottonwood Ivan works with the Lions antique machinery display each year, explaining to attendees how the machines work. Dina has an extensive cookbook collection. Extensive. “She like the books better than she likes to cook,” joked Ivan, laughing. “But we really do have several tons of cookbooks.” “I like to look through them and especially the ones with history from the places where they were made.” Dina said, showing one room with thousands of cookbooks neatly organized by categories. “This is only about a fourth of what I have. And to be fair – I married a real meat and potatoes man and he also likes sweets. No fancy cooking.” She also keeps busy sewing – she also has quite a collection of useable sewing machines – making pajamas for her grandchildren each Christmas. “I’m up to six now so I better get started,” she laughed. Ivan not only maintains the grounds at both the Oregon and Idaho residences, he also spends time writing. Each week, since his children left home, he sits down and writes a letter to them. In 2003, Eric presented his father with a five-inch hardbound volume containing copies of all the letters his dad had written him since he left for college in 1993. “It’s just something I do,” shrugged Ivan with a humble smile. Something he now does more often because each of his six grandchildren also receive a letter – on a monthly basis. “I think the post office should be doing pretty well because all the letters get mailed in their own envelope,” he laughed. “The kids like to have their own piece of mail.” The Nuxolls said they consider it an honor to be chosen as grand marshals for the fair and look forward to the week’s activities. “We love the fair and always spend time there,” Dina said. “And I am so glad it is still truly a county fair that isn’t trying to charge admission,” Ivan emphasized. “Anyone can afford to go to the Idaho County Fair and have a good time.” |
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