McCORDSVILLE – The Callahan family of McCordsville is once again living it up at the Indiana State Fair.
The Hancock County farming family has a long history of embracing both the county and state fair each year.
Saturday night, Lorraine (Callahan) Ewing and her sister Colleen (Callahan) Sipple went to the fair to see a Beatles tribute band called Hard Day’s Night – a Beatles tribute band.
The women were celebrating the 60-year anniversary of the day they saw the Beatles perform at at the Indiana State Fairgrounds in 1964.
“Back then I was 13 and she was 10 and half,” recalled Ewing, who recently turned 73.
The sisters enjoyed box seats in 1964 on behalf of their uncle, Estel Callahan, who was the longtime Secretary Manager at the state fair.
The fair – which opened Friday and runs through Aug. 18 this year – is a Callahan family tradition spanning multiple generations.
“We have many fond memories of attending rodeos, swine shows, parades and musical performances with family and friends,” said Ewing, who counts the Beatles concert in 1964 among the top highlights.
She and her siblings – Colleen, Kevin, Sheldon and Lyndon – were deeply entrenched in the state fair as kids, hauling animals and 4-H projects to the Indiana State Fairgrounds throughout the 1960s and ‘70s, all the way up to 1982.
Ewing has fond memories of her and her siblings winning ribbons for projects in multiple categories like child development, clothing construction, crafts, electricity, gardening, public speaking, and woodworking.
In the 1930s, their dad, Ora Callahan, did the same with his three siblings, who were active 4-H participants from the early 1930s to mid 1950s.
In the 1930s, their dad William H. Callahan proudly introduced them to the art of showing hogs at the state fair.
In 1950, Ora Callahan moved to Hancock County to teach vocational agriculture at Mt. Comfort High School, where he also served as an FFA advisor and 4-H Leader.
In 1963 he and his wife Shirley created six annual cash awards to be given to Hancock County 4-H members to encourage their ongoing involvement in the program.
When Callahan passed away in 2013, his family created the Callahan 4-H Endowment Fund through the Community Foundation of Hancock County, which grows funds to support six scholarships to be given to local 4-H participants each year, based on the areas of achievement, citizenship and leadership.
That summer Ewing’s husband Bill donated a tractor to be auctioned off at the state fair to fund the endowment. A Color Run was also held to raise funds that first year.
Shirley Callahan passed away in 2019, but her children continue to sponsor the endowment in honor of their parents’ longtime love of the county and state fairs and the 4-H program.
That love has been passed all the way down to the great-great-grandchildren of William H. Callahan, who introduced his sons to showing hogs at the state fair nearly a century ago.
Lorraine Ewing is proud to be a Hancock County 4-H alumni and leader who also serves as the clothing superintendent at the local fair.
Her sons were 10-year 4-H members from 1979 to 2000, taking part in woodworking, crafts, public speaking and other areas through the Shining Shamrocks club.
Of her four grandchildren, two have completed 10 years in the Hancock County 4-H program while the other two – a third grader and sixth grader – are on their way to achieving the 10-year milestone one day.
“We attribute our 4-H activities with helping us learn vocational skills, positive communication, social connections, confidence and lots of fun,” shared Ewing, who said she cherishes the memories her family has made at the county and state fairs over the years.
