Fair crowd seems down so far
I think everyone knows I’m a big fan of the county fair. I haven’t hid that fact over the years.
So it is frustrating to see that I seem to be part of a minority with that view.
After going to the fair for the last 10 years, it seems to me that the crowd at the fair is way down this year.
The carnival was not well attended in my opinion (there have been years where the crowd was so huge I could barely squeeze through to get ride pictures.)
The east side in general is pretty desolate since the food stand over there is hardly open, the carnival is gone and the ice cream stand was closed last night. I was able to pull right up and park east of the sheep barn very easily.
There was plenty of seating available at both the fashion show and beef show – the two shows that often have standing only room left.
The commercial exhibits are almost non-existent and the booths that are there usually don’t have people with them.
I’ll be very curious to see what the parade brings. Since it is down to one night and at the park, I’m sure it is almost forgettable to many Washington folks now, who used to go downtown or sit in their yard and then go up to the fairgrounds.
And since the concert is free this year, I wonder what to expect for that.
It is strange, because overall 4-H entries were up, at least in livestock, so you would think the crowd might grow too. But that is not the case.
So what needs to be done? What activities should be added? I do think the fair board works hard to grow the fair – some things work and some don’t. But if you are not a big fan of the fair, what might make you excited to come for a change? Obviously, logistics determine how some things are scheduled or not scheduled, but how could the fair board broaden the draw?
This event is pretty much the only event that brings all of Washington County together cooperatively. We can’t let it fall.
I might be the minority here but we (riley household) seemed to enjoyed the blow up rides the last 2 yrs… I think that the fair/carnival didn’t go over as well because it was not on the weekend maybe next year incorporate both get the carnival at the beginning of the week and the blow up rides at the end. Just my opinion….I didn’t get my funnel cake this year but the ice cream was goooood.
I’d like to see the Washington County Fair less known only as a 4-H fair and more known as the biggest family-friendly party on the prairie in this region. 4-H and its livestock shows, etc., would be a huge element of it, but the fair should be big and fun enough that most of the county comes at least 2-3 nights to the fair because they don’t want to miss the fun.
To say that beer gardens are not family friendly would be saying that most of the population of Hanover and Linn who attend the Days of 49 and Linn Picnic are not good families/parents, so I think we need to drop that argument about the beer garden at the fair.
Well Dan just because you think the beer garden should be dropped doesn’t mean it will. I do not think parents are not good families or good parents that take their kids to fairs with beer gardens however there are people that do not want their kids around that period. The Washington Fair used to be the only fair to get away from that and I know people have stayed away because of that element. Alot of people feel a beer garden has no place at a 4-H Fair which is what our fair is billed as.
The parade needs to be put back up town. The enteries are way down this year and I bet attendance will be down as well. No one wants to put in hours of work on a float to take a trip around the park on it. There is no parking and no seating and it stinks. Some of the members of the fair board need to look at what the public wants and not what they want!
I think the beer garden is what is going to be the best seller there. Just because people drink doesnt mean they are bad people! Im confused Dan, do you or do you not like the beer garden?
I think another thing that might have brought the level of people down is that the Pee Wee tournament is taking place in Linn. To be quite honest though there isn’t a ton of people at that either. I think maybe a lot of people travel during this time of year. I know that Valley Heights has the largest team in the district for tournaments and they had to forfeit because they didn’t have enough boys to play because so many were going to be out of town. Also, maybe with money being so tight for a lot of people they decided it was a luxury they couldn’t really afford. There are so many variables that could be affecting it that it’s so hard to really know.
Dawn
I hate were the parade is now . It needs to be back were it was down town . Everyone used to sit in their front yard and all around the square to watch it . Now we have to fight for a place to park , smell the sh*t from the sale barn and the 4 H o and what if their is a fire or the EMS needs to take a run having it were it is could slow them down some every min counts and the list can go on and on . Yes today is nice but some of you know that it has been hot as poop sometimes and it was nice to sit under the trees . Now we have no shade @ all . So as you can see I want it moved back were it was . Dan you should put something up like a voting thing and lets see who many like or dislike were it is now .
Beer Garden can be hidden by a fence that is a temp fence. All beer has to stay in the fence 21 and older only allowed in. The Horn offered to shut down and move The Horn to the fair if they would let us have the food stand and put up a 8ft privacy fence for beer garden with nightly music acts for the whole week. We would of had the smoker running the wholetime with turkey legs and all the fair yum yums. For this we offered them a percentage of the profits or we would of just paid a fee for rental of the building and ground. But that got shot down.
The horn did the beer garden for the fair concert last year and split all profits with fair board. The only work the fair board had to do was done by one man. Les Gauby drove the stakes for the tent. Was alot of work for The Horn but enjoyed it for the community.
This year they are doing it themselves. Thats fine but kinda funny how they are doing it the same way we did. Kinda feel used. I wish them Luck. Maybe we can get something worked out for next year. Maybe a derby or fig 8 race.
Not B*#^hing but they have had choices. And they have some on the fairboard that know what would work but they must be out numberd.
I know being on the fairboard is not easy but if you dont want to help the whole effort and work to make it better. Get off the fairboard and let someone who does on.
I should not of made these comments having a buisiness in Washington Co. But I never do know what to do right.
Hope the Fairboard keeps trying. My family loves the fair and seeing all the animals in perfect condition and the kids getting rewarded for their hard work..
I really think it sucks that the Pee Wee’s tournament is on the only night of the Parade, I have never in my entire life missed a parade, but I would never miss my kids game either, so I guess we all have to make choices and my kid comes first. It just would have been nice if the parade with on both Friday and Saturday nights like it use to be.
There’s a lot of thing that should’ve/could’ve been changed. I think one of the main problems is that the most popular events occurred in the middle of the week. During this time, many people have work, and can’t take their kids down to the fair, or don’t want to sit at the beef show until 11pm when they have to get up for work tomorrow. I know many people who would’ve played in the volleyball tournament, but they had work. And to put the volleyball/3 on 3 tournament on the same day was also a bad decision. Another thing is it seems like the board doesn’t want to spend money on the fair. Why not get a good band, or even several different? Such as a younger band one night for the younger crowd, and an older country singer to suit another crowd? Why not book a good carnival several years in advance? Maybe hold off the fireworks show until fair? Even though usually the fair isn’t this early… That’d get people down to the fairgrounds!
Anywho. Those are a few of my thoughts.
Obviously I confused some folks. I support having a beer garden at the fair. Like I said, I think the fair should be for everybody, not just a 4-H fair (but again, I think the 4-H activities should be the biggest part of the fair.)
My point with Linn and Hanover was that they have very large beer gardens at their community festivals and there are kids there and those kids have not turned into a bunch of criminal drunks, so to say exposure to a beer garden would cause bad behavior later is untrue in my opinion.
I want the fair to succeed in a big way. I have no problem with the fair board trying new things. If you don’t try new things, and all you do is try to keep the status quo, you’re going to die. Change can be good, but the board also needs to see when things don’t work and be okay with scrapping ideas that were unsuccessful. And I think they are doing that in most cases.
I think they would allow the parade to come back uptown, but they do need help to get that done. It has been suggested that the chamber sponsor the parade, but I’m pretty sure the few active chamber members are pretty over-worked as it is.
I’m not the type to just complain and not help, so I’d love to be on fair board some day, but adding more work to what is already my busiest week of the year would be very stupid of me.
The fair may be billed as the “4H” fair and alot of people may feel as tho a beer garden should not be there, but I happen to know ALOT of people who sit out at their trailors and such and partake in having their fair share of beers during and after their shows. I don’t think it makes parents a bad parent of they drink a few while they are there and or take their children to a fair that has a beer garden. Up until this point in my life, I like to have a beer or two here and there, but I tend to think that I am a wonderful mom to my two kids and they have so far grown up to be very smart and inteligent and kind young adults even tho they have been around alcohol here and there throughout life.
Oh and trash girl, the funnel cakes were WONDERFUL…. I also have a recipe at home for them if you ever want it!!! Also, I think your idea of the blow up rides at the end of the fair week would be a good idea!
Hey becky i would love the funnel cake recipe…but it goes right to my ass and driving a trash truck with a bigger butt would be hazardous to everyone….lol, i would like to see the parade uptown again, we won’t be going to the parade tonite because really what is there to do for a 6 year old to do after…we will be having our own beer garden in the the comfort of our air conditioned home.
trashgirl has BEER .
The parade has over 60 entered that makes me happy from what I heard the whole there is only thirty in the parade.
Catch a paper airplane from Allie and read the info !!!!!!!!!
Oh Yeah Dances tonight and tommorow night at THE HORN….!!!!!!!!!! WAHOOOOOOOOO!!!!
Hey Trashy,
Maybe we’ll stop by and have a beer with you to (hopefully) celebrate Joshy’s ball team going to state!!
Dawn
Hey Dan, I got an idea! How about we turn the fair over to the folks in Hanover? They seem to do a great job of putting on events like this.
I want to comment on having a figure 8 or demo derby at the county fair, but if I get started I will say some things I don’t want to!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Someone,
I think your idea of a demo derby sounds great. What is a figure 8?
Dawn
Here you go Dawn
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VEOApUuQhJg
TIAJ,
Thanks. Hmm, doesn’t look very exciting to me but what do I know….LOL
Dawn
Dawn,
I think either events would be the wrong thing to have at the county fair. The point I was trying to make is the the Linn Booster Club and the community of Linn have been working very HARD the last 8 to 9 years to get the Linn Picnic back to the way it was years ago and with the help of Leon getting the Figure 8 Race and the Derby going it is getting better each year. If the fair board decides to do something like this at the fair it will only hurt another community. I don’t know if people in the county realize that profit made off of the picnic is put right back into things like the park, ball fields, etc, the Linn Booster Club is a non profit organization and will continue to be. If the fair board is looking at getting an event started to draw a large crowd why not look into a pro stock tractor pull, they tried it years ago at the picnic in Linn and had a great turn out, only problem was they had was lack of space for the size of tractors that were there. Just because the attendance at the fair was down, don’t try and do something that might affect another community.
Well folks I’ve lived in this community since 1966, and my family use to own a business uptown on the square. Since I still live here…. guess I’ll try to put in my 2 cents worth.
BACK IN THE OLE DAZE….During the Washington County Fair one food stand (the one on the east side) was run by the Washington Chamber of Commerce. Then the fair board wanted the chambers food stand… it made the most money. Wonder if the Chamber members would take the food stand back? Every business took part of a day to run the stand. It worked well too! Then at night…. the busy time…. the Chamber members and their spouses would work the food stand. Chamber members making contact with their customers ….. geez…. free advertising on their part…… and I know that businesses often sold their products over this food stand counter…. I know I was there.
Then there’s the parade…. it was two nights on the square. Most businesses (exceptions would be the cafe’s and taverns) would shut down early…. at 5 p.m. so businessmen and families could go home and get their float &/or entries for the parade ready. I’ve noticed very few businesses have floats much less any kind of an entry in the parade and most stay open until their “usual” closing times which is often after or just shortly before the parade. I would think a little more advertising again .. even if it is just the Washington Co Fair Parade would benefit them.
Now here’s a concept. Why not plan on making a float over Memorial Day weekend for your business advertising said business …. then take that float to the parades at Hanover, Linn, Washington, Blue Rapids, Clifton and Palmer! (and maybe even Diller, NE) One float …. 6 or 7 parades…… might get you some more business. This could work whether your business is located in Washington, Linn, Palmer, Greenleaf, Hanover, Haddam, Mahaska, Barnes or Clifton
Of course putting the fair parade back uptown is obviously a no brainer. Now I’m all for change and mixing things up a bit to keep the fair fresh and vital…. but changing the parade route and the location of the parade route was not one of the better ideas this fair board has had. I’ve read that someone commented about the number of entries was 60….. this is way way down from about 5 or 6 years ago when entries were in the mid 80′s of course the parade was still uptown on the square then ….. and there use to be a time that the Washington County Fair Parade had over 100 entries… why that was way over 15 years ago!
As far as attendance…. no parade entries… usually means no parade watchers. Now here are comments I’ve heard around town about why people will not even watch the parade: 1) I’m elderly and can not walk from where they want us to park over to where I’d need to be to watch the parade. When it was up town I could park on a side street and have a real sidewalk to walk on to get a spot on the route to watch. 2) Not enough parking just to WATCH a parade. 3) Not enough room to LINE UP for the parade. 4) Why would I travel or haul a float, or horses, just to go such a short distance around the park?
I was very happy to see the fair board put the concerts back into the fair schedules…. yep… in the Ole daze there use to be concerts and entertainers during the fair and this certainly was a huge huge draw. The beer garden is also a plus… lets face it folks…. beer drinking goes on at the fair. Now the people do not have to go to their cars, trucks, trailers, etc to get their beer. Nor do the people have to leave the fair grounds to go uptown to buy their beer, sorry Leon.
As far as this being a 4-H fair…. geez…. there are Open classes in most everything so anyone can enter something in the fair…. Granny’s canned pickles to Uncle Xerox’s stalk of corn….. this is not JUST a 4-H Fair….. IT’s the WASHINGTON COUNTY FAIR. And as such maybe All of Washington County needs to get involved.
Ole Timer
Ole Timer is wise!! That is one of the most constructive positive posts we’ve had in a while. Thank you.
My only concern is that, as it is, the Chamber usually only has 5-7 businesses (out of 50 or so business members) represented at meetings and many of us are burning out fast. We did do the food stand one night this year and I believe it was a good money-maker for the chamber (which was much needed instead of relying on dues) but I don’t think we have the manpower to do a full week.
And if some have kids in 4-H, it makes it that much harder.
But we do need a better option for that food stand.
Love your idea of making one float and using it at all the area parades. Problem for me is I can’t seem to think of any non-objectionable float ideas (if anyone remembers are Linn Picnic float from three years ago.)
But anyway, I’d like to see more constructive commentaries like yours.
And in addition, we need more actual floats in all of the parades and fewer pickups with business names on the side.
Either Jewell or Republic County has a 4-H king and queen event at their county fair. That might be cool to recognize a kid who has demonstrated a year-round commitment to the program and its ideals.
Someone,
Sorry I misunderstood your first post. After reading your second post I have to ask: Why would it make any difference if Washington were to do the same things as Linn? They would be on different dates and one wouldn’t pull away from the other (or at least I wouldn’t think so). If people like Demo Derby’s then give them what they like. I’m interested in your thoughts on why this might be a problem.
Dawn
I have to agree with TD
Washington does”t have to be a copy cat with the derby that Linn puts on. Think of somethings else that they can do.
I can say the county we just moved from in NW Ohio had a GREAT parade for their fair every year. The fair wasn’t the best, but the parade was incredible. The fair board actually tried to get people back in to the fair by having free admission this year and free kiddie rides. Our last week in Ohio was on a good note to actually attend a fair that was trying to save itself from the economy. We all have stories of ‘when we were young’ and that is something we need to try to get back to in order to save our local fairs. Here’s an idea…
If you have ideas about how the fair could be better, attend a fair board meeting. Or better yet, run for a position on the fair board. The only way we are going to save our communities is to get involved!!! Our kids are depending on each and every one of us to make the communities a better place. We can’t leave them with ‘has beens’ and ‘remember whens,’ can we?
I think we would have alot more floats if the parade route was longer!
I don’t know Dan, MANY of the old business’ had some Great floats. FUNNY and not objectionable at all. Once they started trying to top each other the parade was a blast.
I seem to recall a decision several years ago that discouraged that type of foolishness. Someone wanted to keep the fair/parade for the 4-H and civic groups, or some such thing and it’s dwindled away ever since. If the Fair Board wants to make a change, maybe taking a step back might be a start. Look at what was good about those old parades and try to bring that back.
I lived in Morrowville from 1942 until 1960. The fair and parade were attended very well during those years. In fact, my aunt won a new car one year. Since every town had their own high school, each was represented by their band in the parade. But I don’t think you can attempt to return to those days. We didn’t have cable TV or the internet then, and therefore, had to find ways to amuse ourselves. Plus the decline in population hurts badly because it is a numbers game. My suggestion is to try something new that would gain regional notoriety. Not living there, I have no idea what that would be. But you need to find some reason for people to attend.
Tim is right. If you want something to change, at the very least, get to know who is on the fair board and give the members your ideas. Better yet, attend some meetings or get involved and run for a position. There are several positions up every year.
I think if we would book the carnival in advance, like 2 years in advance, and keep it on a weekend, attendance would be back up. Whenever you have a party on weeknights, not many people will show up, and if they do, they will leave early because they have work the next day. It is pretty obvious what was wrong this year.
I think carnivals like to contract for three years, but in order to get them in the first place, they want to be sure that there will be plentiful revenue generated. That is hard to guarantee. I think the Linn Picnic had a good crowd, but I’ve heard they did not recontract. I’ll have to check on that.
No sure thing here.
Fair Ideas ! Well the parade was good with lots of entries. The location is the pits; it needs to be back up town that is a no brainer. Maybe next year the carnival will be here on the weekend that would be great I understand it was not possible this year but that was OK, at least we had a carnival. Figure 8 races at Linn were boring to say the least I will leave it to that. Demo derby in Washington as long as the race track remains OK but if the race track has to go no way for the Demo derby it is a once a summer thing and the races are 4 – 5 times and they are really good. As for the fair it is not only a 4H fair but also so for everyone it can be and should be a friendly competition between everyone from sweet corn to the best quilt we just need more of the good county interest. Beer garden is a good thing it helps draw people and more money, the free dance it a good thing it draws in people, just so there are no dances up town to take away from the fair crowd this always happens and it has been that way in the past. I have many more things to add but I will see how this goes over first.
The dances uptown are not to take away from the crowd it is a place to go after 12 am When it is over since they have to stop serving at 12 am. Last years dances the band did not start till 11:30 pm. So very unlikely it pulls away from the free concert.
As far as the Fig 8 Races that is your opinion and I happen to agree with you but it is fun for about 500 people every year that attend.
The derby would not take place on the race track this was discussed last year as the local raceres explained to us the saftey issues for the inside of track to stay smooth and grassed.
I agreed with what they said. Saftey is always first in the sport of any racing. There is other locations that could be used if they so choose. That is totally for the fairboard to decide. I told them I would help with this if they want me to. Just would add it to the list of all the others in July. I remember as a kid looking forward to going to the derby in Washington every year.
I will agree the parade was good but did seem a little cramped in the park. Not going to complain about it because i understand what they are trying to do. Person never knows till you try somthing.
why did they move the parade?
They believe that in the absence of good ideas, you should blind people with any idea that comes to mind.
I think that moving the parade back would not be a bad idea. I think that the curves are hard for tractor trailors to turn as well as the other drawbacks already discussed. I agree with leon about the derby. I think they should find somewhere to have it and bring it back. I am a derbier and it shames me that I can not run in my local town and have to travel to run my car in other derbies. it is true it is a one time a year thing but they could find a place to do it if they wanted too, its just too much trouble.
Again…if you people want change rather than just complaining….go to the fair board meetings or run for a position on the board. It is that simple.