Bringing back a royal history

After years of raising money for the Union County Fair through the Running on Tradition Mud Run, organizers have decided to switch gears.

This year, Alison Travis and Maddie Gillam are putting together a new fundraiser, themed around Union County’s old bluegrass palace. The hope is to raise money for a new playground on the fairgrounds, modeled after the palace, through a mud volleyball tournament.

Gillam explained the idea first came form UCDA director Mindy Stalker, with Travis and Gillam pushing the idea forward.

“We grew up at the fair. We have such fond memories of our childhood. Showing at the fair, but also being at the fair with the people. We become a little family for a week and then that family extends to everything else you do too,” Gillam said. “Although we have awesome memories of making our own fun at the fair, we’re at that age in our lives where we want to make sure that our future kids will have that as well.”

In order to raise money for this structure, the mud volleyball tournament called Play for the Palace will be held June 8 at the Union County fairgrounds. The plan is to have three age groups: Up to 10 years, 11 through 17 and 18 and up.

Each team is made up of eight players, and a full team is required to play. It costs $160 per team, which includes participation in the tournament, t-shirts for each player and access to the after party, for which Gillam said they hope to provide live music and food. Teams can sign up via the event’s Facebook page, Play for the Palace.

Along with admission into the tournament, the two are working with area businesses to get sponsors for the event and playground. Anyone interested in sponsoring the project can contact Gillam or Travis personally or message the event’s Facebook page.

Union County has a rich history with bluegrass. In the late 1800s, Southwest Iowans realized the land was a goldmine for growing bluegrass. Bluegrass is used both for erosion control and to feed livestock, thus making it a very important commodity in Southwest Iowa.

In 1889, 18 counties founded the Blue Grass League of Southwest Iowa, with W. J. Davenport of the C. B. & Q Railroad as the chairman. The goal was to promote the bluegrass of Southern Iowa and bring more customers to the area.

In anticipation of Creston’s annual District Agricultural Fair in August that year, Ed Brewster, the editor of the Creston News Advertiser, suggested a bluegrass or hay palace.

Creston fresco artist Louis Syberkrop presented his sketch of a bluegrass palace, which encouraged the league to approve it in June. Local architect J. C. Woodruff was hired as the contractor for the palace project.

The palace was constructed of bails of pressed hay and straw, with walls made from different size bails to make it look like masonry. Other parts were thatched with different grasses to provide a variety of color. The palace was finished in August at the old Union County fairgrounds and ran from Aug. 27 to Sept 7.

The different counties that were a part of the league all had different booths and events held in the palace during that time, including a wedding.

The bluegrass palace held fairs for the next two years, the palace doubling in size in 1890, but was then discontinued in 1892 without a definite explanation.

With the Play for the Palace event, Gillam and Travis hope to bring this history out for more people to learn.

“Years and years and years ago, the things that were cool and big, we want to kind of bring that back and bring that history piece back with the palace,” Gillam said.