Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

Wind Up Your Summer at the Fair this year's theme for county event

A theme has been selected for the 68th Annual Nevada County Fair.

This year's theme will be "Wind up your summer at the Nevada County Fair". It was selected at the monthly meeting of the Nevada County Fair Board, held Thursday, Feb. 12, at the Potlatch Building. In all, there were 50 themes suggested for the fair.

The fair dates will be Aug. 31 through Sept. 5, with Candy Land Amusements providing the midway. Rebecca Holley, who was named president at the meeting, said Candy Land has between 14-17 different rides available. The fair dates were picked at this time to coincide with when the amusement company could be here.

Holley also brought up the idea of bringing back the petting zoo. She said cages would be needed for smaller animals and the petting zoo could be held in the horse barn. "The more we have to attract the younger children," she said, "the more people are likely to come to the fair."

Candace Carrie' said there used to be a petting zoo at the fair, but this was a long time ago.

Holley said there had been talk of having a variety show one night at the fair. This would give local and area bands the opportunity to showcase their talent, while providing another inducement for people to come to the fair throughout the week.

The idea of building a pavilion was brought up, with Holley saying the board could solicit the donation of materials, while fair board members could build it. It would be used as a place for the premium buyers to eat prior to the premium sale, while keeping them out of the horse barn or Potlatch Building, and thereby avoiding potential scheduling conflicts.

Carol Tyree, who was tabbed as the board's treasurer again, said the deadline for selling ads for the fair book will be the end of April. This will give the board time to get everything together for the book and get it to the printers by June.

The board also discussed "just in case" scenario for the fair parade. While it will follow the same route, different people will be available to make sure it runs smoothly and efficiently. The parade will be held Tuesday, Aug. 31, with Wednesday, Sept. 1, the back up date in case of rain.

Tyree said the board has to watch its money, and presented models of ribbons for winners. The ribbons are smaller than they have been in the past, but also cost about 20 cents less each. The ribbons won't overshadow the display.

It was decided to go with the smaller ribbons for adult entries, but to continue using the larger ones for the youth entries.

In talking about getting more advertising for the fair, Carrie' said the Prescott High School East Lab students may be a resource that could be utilized to help make posters. East Lab students have to come up with community-oriented projects for East Lab competitions.

Rex Dollar said entries in the fair book need to be coded to make it easier to make changes in the future. He said individuals can pick an area of their expertise and make sure the requirements to participate are not only right in the book, but have all the information necessary.

Officers elected for the fair board were: Holley as president; Tyree as treasurer; and Karen Jobe as secretary.