Murray Fest builds on a local legacy

The original Murray McMurray is pictured with a friendly hen on his shoulder, quite possibly a Rhode Island Red, long a very reliable breed on every farm.

Murray would have loved every minute of it.

I was a few years too late to meet the original Murray McMurray, but from what I have learned about him over the years tells me that he would have thoroughly enjoyed and approved of every minute of the inaugural Murray Fest Midwest held this past weekend at the Hamilton County Fairgrounds.

Hats off to Tom Watkins and all the people at Murray McMurray Hatchery today for bringing this unique and educational event to our community.

Watkins is president and co-owner of Murray McMurray Hatchery with his father-in-law, former Webster City Mayor Bud Wood. It’s clear to see that the hatchery has landed in good hands, a new family who will steward one of Webster City’s oldest businesses far into the future.

I have to admit that I had no idea what to expect from Murray Fest. I even had a few people ask me, what is a Murray Fest? After taking it all in on Saturday, I have to say it was wonderfully named and I believe fits well with the way McMurray lived his life.

“Homesteading” is a term that popped up frequently at Murray Fest. What this means is an attitude of living a sustainable life, focusing on home and family. Whether it be a garden, a pen full of sheep, beef cows on pasture, or a cackling flock of backyard hens, homesteading can take many forms, but it’s all about making choices for the way one lives each day.

A lot of the folks attending are not yet full-time homesteaders, but work another job to supplement their family income. The hatchery started as just a side job for McMurray when he was a banker in 1917. But he worked at it, and it grew to support many, many families.

Working at “the hatch” was long a rite of passage in Webster City. For how many of us Baby Boomers did the hatchery help buy a first car, or gas money for Saturday night and tickets to the Corral Drive-In?

What many in Webster City didn’t see were the small farmers across the state who became flock owners to produce eggs for the hatchery. Those folks earned a lot more than just gas money from the hatchery, as did the full-time, year-round employees.

Today’s homesteaders can take a lesson from Murray McMurray to appreciate that working hard at something that starts as a side job, can grow far bigger than ever imagined.

Likewise, the farm wives McMurray sold chicks to in the early years of the 20th century would have loved the practical ideas for sustainable living offered up from presenters ranging from chicken ladies to garden gurus at Murray Fest. Of course, they didn’t call it “sustainable living” in those days. Murray’s early customers are the ones who lived by the motto: Use it Up, Wear it Out, Make it Do, or Do Without.

That Depression-era advice is perfectly in sync with the philosophy that modern-day “homesteaders” seek to renew and foster as a way to reduce our economic and environmental footprint in today’s world.

Many in the community will recall the late Jean McMurray and the late Anne McMurray. Married to John and Charles McMurray, respectively, they were part of the second generation at the hatchery. These ladies were consummate volunteers within the community.

As I walked away from the Coffee with the Chicken Ladies tent, I had to think that Jean and Anne would have had a delightful time visiting with those girls, as well as those at the Women’s Homestead Society, an equally beautiful and educational tent.

The late John McMurray, a graduate of the Yale University School of Forestry, would have not been able to pry himself away from the gardening sessions offered up at Murray Fest. With his wife, Jean, they grew and tended the home that earned the title of “the plantation” for its lush plantings of trees and other vegetation.

The young Murray McMurray, whom many of us still know, along with his business partner Mike Lubbers, must be so pleased to see the hatchery continue to be true to its very best history under its new owners.

While praising Watson and crew for bringing Murray Fest to the community, I would be remiss if I did not also mention the Hamilton County Fair Board and Fair Foundation.

So many people at the event remarked to me about the cleanliness and high-quality facilities at the fairgrounds. Were it not for years of planning and fundraising by both the fair board and fair foundation, those grounds would not be the top-notch facility that they are today.

We also need to take a minute and thank the community volunteers who helped in so many different ways throughout the weekend.

Murray McMurray passed from this life in 1959 and rests at Graceland Cemetery. How incredible that the business he founded is still adding to his legacy.

As Scoutmaster of legendary Troop 17, Murray McMurray inspired the delightful book “God and My Country” by Pulitzer Prize-winning Webster City author MacKinlay Kantor. The book was renamed “Follow Me Boys” when it became a Disney movie starring Fred MacMurray and a young Kurt Russell in 1966.

A few years ago, I put “Follow Me Boys” on my summer reading list and was absolutely delighted. Being a Fred MacMurray fan, I then had to check out the movie. Both the book and movie embody 20th Century America at its finest. The language is clean, the message is heartwarming, patriotic and family friendly. Oh, I wish we had so much more like it today.

“Follow Me Boys” is available in both book and DVD format at Kendall Young Library. (Also from online booksellers and some streaming services.) If you would like to escape to a simpler time for just a little while, put it on your summer reading list today.

Another great flick can be found by searching “Honor & Tradition: The McMurray Scout Troop” on YouTube. This approximately 15-minute video from historian Jennifer McCollough is a glorious journey back in time. Viewers will see old familiar places and perhaps some familiar faces.

Happy reading, happy viewing, and don’t miss Murray Fest next year!

Lori Berglund is a freelance writer and a former managing editor of the Daily Freeman-Journal.