By By JOY NOEL LAURENT / Special to the Edwardsburg Argus
CASSOPOLIS -- Her ice blue eyes twinkle as she walks from the horse barn to the newer open-air building housing her son's swine and nearly 200 others, beginning to squeal for their dinner.
Well into her 24th year of involvement, Cynthia Brosnan approaches the Cass County 4-H fair with the same enthusiasm she held in the start. These last few years are different, though.
Brosnan, has finally gotten past the horse barns. Her role, instead, is to help youth become involved in the events and to aid them in learning from that involvement. "There's an art to it. They all require training," she said, adding later, "As far as fair is concerned, I help the kids."
The 4-H county fair has become a staple in her summers off from teaching and the pledge behind it a philosophy to live by.
An English teacher at Clay High School in South Bend, Ind., Brosnan holds quite a reputation with her students. "The kids know not to mess around with Mrs. Brosnan," she commented with a chuckle.
Maintaining her family's 80-acre farm is also no easy task, especially after a construction accident two years ago left her husband unable to endure heavy labor.
Still, the pasture is where she is in her element, riding her horses and tractors and mowing the fields.
The 4-H activities are a natural extension of her love for animals and the outdoors. "(The fair) is something that's so instinctive, so deep in me that I can't not do it," she said, smiling as she toured the fairgrounds one more time. "The whole county pulls together to make this happen…. Everybody comes together to help these kids show their animals and succeed."
Brosnan could not be more proud. Her elder son, Jeff, who is now 17 and has been showing animals in the fair since age 9, won third place in the market hog event and John, her younger son at age 11, won Best in Show for his sugar cookie-scented candles.
But her leadership and training go far beyond immediate family.
In 1976, Brosnan moved to Edwardsburg and, the next year, began busily teaching her young nieces and nephew to train and "work" horses each summer. Soon, she was asked by the local 4-H horse leaders to share her rare expertise in a form of riding called dressage and served as an assistant leader of the 5-H club (the extra H being for horses), giving lessons to any kids in 4-H who wanted them. Back then, she showed horses every day of the fair and "never got past the horse ring."
She added jokingly, "If it doesn't have four legs, a mane and a tail, it doesn't compute."
Other 4-H clubs, like the M-40 Hustlers (in which her family currently holds membership), have also provided leadership positions and, through them, she has trained children both in groups and individually. "You can't always pay back what other people have done for you, but you can pass it on," she explained, grateful for the training she received through years of working with horses. "I've learned so much."
Brosnan has seen a lot of change in her beloved tradition. Since her first year at the Cass County 4-H Fair, a pee wee division was added, the horse show expanded to include jumpers, dressage and gymkhana and an indoor all-purpose show arena now graces the premises.
But one thing remains the same.
The people at the fair are her family, a community that is willing to give and receive help from their friends. "It is like having a family reunion when we come here," she said, reflecting upon her experiences. "There are people I only see at the fair. And now, I look around and think, 'So much fun! 24 years and I didn't even notice.' "