Margaret Carranza To Be Featured On 2011 Fairview Old Timers’ Festival Button

The Fairview Old Timers’ Festival Committee has selected centenarian Margaret Carranza to represent Fairview on the 2011 Fairview Festival button. She turned 100 years old in January. Carranza has deep roots, many friends and lot of fond memories surrounding her beloved Fairview.

“I was born in 1911 and we moved here in 1925, so I’ve known Fairview for a long time,” Carranza remarks. “I’m proud to still be here, and I’m so honored and flattered to be chosen for the Festival button. Fairview was my life, and I am so honored to have true friends and family that appreciate and remember me. I’m overwhelmed that they thought of me and considered me worthy of this honor.”

Carranza arrived in the Sidney area with her family in 1925, when the family came to work in the beet fields. All of them, including Carranza herself, worked hard for various growers up and down the valley, and they became friends with many people, including a grower in Fairview.

Carranza’s father grew tired of moving around and decided to purchase a farm of his own, so the grower friend in Fairview helped him find a farm with good land. Carranza’s father bought his first farm in 1939 in the Fairview area, and ten years later in 1949 he purchased a second farm near Sidney. However, the family retained its close association with Fairview, a relationship that Carranza maintained after the death of her father in 1953 when she took over the operation of the farms.

Farming became her passion, and her work in the beet fields gave her the stamina and knowledge to make a success of the farms. “I loved farming,” Carranza remarks. “It was my pride and joy working and doing and watching things grow. Farming is in my blood and my mind and it is what gave me courage to survive.”

Carranza notes changes she’s witnessed in farming through the years. “We did the work by hand but we did it and enjoyed it,” she comments. “I loved working, I loved watching the neighbors’ children grow up, and farming in all its aspects gave me joy in spite of the hard work. Working hard and with my hands made me appreciate what I had and it made me appreciate the get-togethers with music and dancing.”

She continues, “Farming is a lot different now and things are done differently. Everything is done with the push of a button. People don’t walk anymore. They’ll use a car to drive two blocks, and we used to walk miles.”

Through the changes and with the passage of years, Carranza never lost her love for Fairview. “The Fairview area is important to me,” she concludes. “We developed lifelong relationships with people in Fairview, my friends and families are there, and my roots are there.”

The Festival will feature Carranza as part of the festivities. For her 100th birthday in January, friends and family presented a style show to tell the story of Carranza’s life. This style show will be used as part of this year’s activities.