91-year-old never misses a fair
Martha Marlatt has attended the Coshocton County Fair every year for 91 years. She is pictured here with family friend Bill Hardesty. (Marianne Austin)
Martha Marlatt has attended the Coshocton County Fair every year for 91 years.
“I was born Sept. 11, 1930 and I have never missed a fair,” she said.
Marlatt was three weeks old when she attended her first fair.
“My mother stayed in bed for nine days that’s the way it was done when I was born,” she said. “She got up and went to the fair and brought me. I have never missed a fair with the exception of last year. I was involved in sewing in 4-H and livestock until I was 18. My dad Walter Kaufman was on the fairboard for 21 years. We always participated in the fair. They had rides similar to what they have now, the ferris wheel and the merry-go-round. The waffle stand was always a favorite place but there wasn’t food stands like there is today. Mother always packed dinner for us and brought it. Over the years there have been a lot of different things at the fair.”
Bill Hardesty said he was born in 1957 and he probably hasn’t missed very many fairs either.
“Martha and my mother were friends and my wife and I help on her farm and bring her to the fair every year,” Hardesty said.
“I live on a 280 acre farm and he and his wife help me on the farm,” Marlatt said. “I have to have somebody to push me around.”
“I told her we would have to trade places later,” Hardesty said.
Category: People & Places
