Plans set for county fair

The 2022 Sanders County Fair now has a theme — “Blue Jeans & Country Dreams” — created by a 4-H member of the South Side Sparks.

The new theme was unanimously selected by the three members present at last Wednesday’s monthly fair board meeting. It took less than five minutes for Randy Woods, board chairman, and board members Kim McMahon and Ted Forkum, to select Blue Jeans & Country Dreams, submitted by Isabella Hansen of the South Side Sparks 4-H club. Hansen will receive a free carnival wristband for one session for her winning theme. The 9-year-old Hansen has been a 4-H member, including a year as a cloverbud, for four years. She also submitted “Sew It, Grow It, Show It” and “Rainbow Dreams and Country Scenes.” The other three submissions were: “Country Roads Take Me Home,” “Buffalo Bill’s Wild West,” “The Wonder Years,” and “From Pioneer Days to Modern Ways” by Ayla and Emma Rehbein and the Rehbein family.

Fair Manager Melissa Cady has all this year’s contracts done but one, that of a ticketing contract for the events. Cady mentioned contacting a local nonprofit organization, but said any group would do. It would probably take a dozen people to cover the four events, starting at 4 p.m. for the Sunday demolition derby and starting at 6 p.m. for the three rodeos Thursday, Friday and Saturday. Those interested would need to contact the fair office at (406) 826-3202. Cady said they’d like to fill the contract as soon as possible.

The board decided this year to eliminate the bull riding night and replace it with a third rodeo night, which includes bull riding. Woods said they had trouble finding enough bull riders last year and opened it up in 2021 to local amateurs. He also said they are making Thursday’s rodeo this year more of a local family night at reduced prices.

The fair board is also looking for nominations for this year’s Sanders County Community Service Award. No names have been submitted yet this year. The winner gets his or her name on a plaque at the fairgrounds flagpole and is the grand marshal of the Sanders County Fair Parade on Saturday, September 3. Names of candidates need to be submitted online at the fair website. Last year’s winner was Laurence Walchuck of Hot Springs.

The fair board meeting took place in the fair office because the pavilion had been booked for an event. No members of the public were present for the meeting. During the two-hour meeting, the board made a policy change to raffle ticket sales at fair time. In the past, organizations had been allowed to roam the fairgrounds to sell raffle tickets, but this year any organization that wants to sell tickets, including those for goods or cash, such as a 50/50 raffle, will have to do it from a rented booth, which starts at $200.

The policy was accepted by all three board members at the Wednesday meeting. “Sale or distribution of any merchandise, including printed or written material, except from a duly licensed location (such as a rented booth) on the fairgrounds shall be prohibited,” the policy reads. The policy included raffle ticket sales in the grandstands.

One of the reasons for the new policy is to keep the crowds moving. “Because the fairgrounds comprise a relatively small area where an enormous variety of goods, services, entertainment and other matters of interest are exhibited to large crowds on a temporary basis, the board’s interest in the orderly movement and control of such an assembly is a substantial consideration,” the policy said.

The only legitimate groups that have sold raffle tickets in recent years were the Plains-Paradise Rural Fire District and the Town of Plains Fire Department. The Plains fire department has sold tickets for many years during the demolition derby, the biggest draw with the largest number of people at the fair. James Russell, the rural district’s fire chief, said they had members walking through the crowd last year selling tickets, although they had helped the town fire department with its raffle prior to that. The two fire departments sold the tickets to raise money for needed equipment. Russell said his group raised $9,000 in raffle tickets last year, 70% of which was sold at the fair. He was not pleased with the policy change. “It limits our capability to raise money with the plan we had put into place, but it really hurts the city and they’ve relied on it for years,” said Russell. The fairgrounds are not within the Town of Plains Fire Department’s jurisdiction, but when the pavilion caught fire in 2017, the town’s department was on scene helping the rural firefighters.

Chief Anthony Young of the Town of Plains Fire Department was also disappointed with the board’s decision. Their demolition derby 50/50 raffle was its only fundraiser for the year. They sold about $6,000 worth of tickets last year, which meant the department got $3,000. “When the fiscal year budget is over each year, I normally have about $3,000 left to buy equipment. That fundraiser doubled the amount of equipment we can get, so essentially our equipment budget got cut in half with that decision,” said Young.

The only exception to the policy was 4-H, which has been permitted to sell tickets in the 4-H barns and the pavilion, though they are prohibited from selling anywhere else on the fairgrounds.

The fair also adopted a new premium payout policy for the winners in the open class competitions. Cady said that people have been picking up their cash winnings at the fair office on Sunday, possibly the busiest day for her and her assistant, Hailey Coe. “It’s just too hectic. People are trying to get paid at a time when we have the largest crowd,” said Cady. Woods agreed that Sunday was not a good day because it’s a busy day. The board unanimously voted to have winners pick up their money on the Monday following the fair from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. or get it mailed to them. Cady said they are welcome to pick up their entries on Sunday as long as they don’t have to drive a vehicle on the grounds.

Cady said the majority of fair preparations are done. Contracts for the rodeo, carnival, parking, vendors, cleanup and the demo derby are done and the grounds are mostly ready with only minor work to be done. Stoves that were purchased in March for the pavilion will be installed in the near future. Officials would like to get handrails installed in the arena bleachers, but are not certain it can be done prior to fair, September 1-4. Cady said the fair staff is constantly making improvements. McMahon said they are waiting to get a floodplain permit approved in order to get a pole barn built. MQS post frame buildings of Noxon won the project bid at $50,000. The barn will be built along River Road West across from the fair’s horse arena and will be utilized as a storage area.