2025 Perkins County Friends of the Fair: John and Corinne Erickson

Lifelong Perkins County couple John and Corinne Erickson were chosen as the 2025 “Friends of the Fair.” Both were born and raised in the area, and they have called Perkins County home for most of their lives.

The Perkins County Fair brought John and Corinne together.

“About 1965, I had my horse all ready for the horse show, and a horse threw me off and hurt me,” Corinne said. “He pulled my groin so I couldn’t walk. My horse was totally done for the fair, but there was no way could I show her.”

Corinne’s mother talked to Albert Bentley and asked if it would be ok if someone else showed her horse in the fair so she could complete the project, since she had done all of the work: at that time no one gave their horse a bath, but they brushed and vacuumed them to get them ready for the fair.

Mr. Bentley gave his ok, and offered to ask Bill Erickson to show Corinne’s horse. 

“Mom brought me in to watch the show,” she recalled. “John’s mom came over and was visiting with my mom while Bill showed my horse. John was in the arena helping the ring steward. When I saw him, the rest was history. My life of getting to know him started at a 4H event at the fair.”

At the time, John was oblivious.

“I didn’t notice anything,” he said. “I was innocent as a lamb. I intended to ‘live fast and die young’ but my plans didn’t turn out.”

“It took a lot of hard work to get him to notice me,” Corinne laughed.

Corinne was born at home on her grandmother’s homestead. Her parents, George and Kay Williams, lived three miles north of Ericksons’ current home on the Williams place. Corinne’s great-grandfather homesteaded a mile north of John and Corinne’s home.

“I’m still here,” she said. “We never moved very far from home.”

Corinne attended Bakke School, located three quarters of a mile north of the family home. She was a charter member of the Grand River Robins 4-H club, founded in 1957 when she was eight years old. The first meeting was held at Buers, and Pat Kolb helped with the club for many years.

Corinne’s first love was showing horses but she also showed cattle and, at her mother’s insistence, did sewing and baking projects.

“Mom told me, ‘If you’re going to show horses and be involved you WILL have to pick something to do in the homemaking part.’ My main thing was horses, but she thought I should have to learn a little bit more than that,” she said.

“Looking back I’m glad she made me do it, but it was always a struggle to get something sewn. I never liked it. Baking wasn’t so bad, but it was sure my second choice. Horses were by far the first for me.”

Corinne and her sister were in 4H until they aged out. She also took steers to Lemmon to the Junior Livestock show to show and sell.

“We didn’t have a pickup, dad had to borrow a pickup if we went to Faith or Lemmon,” she said. “For the fair at Bison we could ride there.”

John’s parents, Alden and Varna Erickson, ranched south of Prairie City. John was a member of the Antelope 4H club, one of the oldest in Perkins County. He started 4H in 1948 when he was six years old. 

“It was illegal; I should have started at eight like everyone else, but they made room for me,” John said. 

Those first years he just showed garden produce. 

“By the time I was eight I was showing horses and cattle, both dairy cattle and Hereford cattle,” John said. “We had our first year showing livestock right in front of the courthouse. Then they moved it to the school yard, out back of the school, and then moved it to the stockyards west of the Bison Grain elevator.”

Shows were held at the stockyards until the present fairgrounds were built, along with the Bentley Building.

John’s mother was very involved as a 4H leader. John learned to keep the record books, participated in talent shows, worked as a 4H junior leader, and attended Camp Bob Marshall in the Black Hills every summer. One summer John was chosen to be the “King” at 4H camp, and Patty Kelly was named queen.

“John did everything there was to do on the boys’ side of 4H,” Corinne said.

John’s mother had her rules too, and made John do an embroidery project and show it at the fair.

“I had to put flowers on a pillowcase,” he said. “I really didn’t like it. I was probably eight or nine years old.”

It was terribly embarrassing for John when he had to show the pillow case at the fair with his name on it.

“He was really well rounded in the line of 4H,” Corinne said.

After John had aged out of 4H, Vince Gunn got him started helping with 4H horse shows. John worked as a ring steward in Perkins County and the surrounding area for many years.

John volunteered to help start the Perkins County rodeo in 1962.

“I gathered the bucking horses into Herb Kolb’s new arena,” he said. “We gathered them from all the people who would let us buck their horses; one here, two there till we had enough.”

John and Corinne married on May 31, 1969. They lived out of the area briefly, but became involved with the fair and rodeo again when they moved back to the Erickson place in 1974. Their son, DeLane, was born in 1977, and daughter DeLyssa was born in 1978. 

“We were involved in the whole aspect of 4H and the fair,” Corinne said. 

Ericksons stepped back in, now filling leadership roles as their children became old enough for 4H. They put on trail rides, attended judging schools, and were active in range management. Corinne returned to showing horses and also showed garden produce and artwork in a variety of categories, although she did not go back to any sewing projects. John worked with Donna Burdine as an official in the horse shows for years. He also coached girls on their horsemanship prior to Rodeo Queen contests. DeLane and DeLyssa were also involved in 4H, showing calves, horses and sheep at the fair. But John and Corinne did not insist on any sewing or embroidery projects.

Corrine said, “We always kind of had our hands in 4H,” and John added: “4H is what made the fair.” 

John and Corinne were involved in showing at the Perkins County Fair and helping behind the scenes and in the ring for well over five decades.