Longton Free Fair

[Rudy Taylor]

The only thing "sitting around" may have been a few pickled guitar players --- but you know?  They were pretty good.

[Tobina+1]

We went to the fair on Friday night!  It brought back many memories of hot fair days!  All the kids did so well and the projects looked great!  Congratulations to all the kids!
I was very impressed with the fairgrounds at Longton.  It was a great location and shady that time of the evening.  There were a lot of people there for the BBQ, and it looked like the swine show had a lot of people watching, too.  The new barn where the rest of the projects were displayed was very nice (although it could have benefitted from some fans in the doors).  Also, having some fans in the livestock barns would probably be good, too. 
If the public were to have a vote on whether to combine the fairs and which current location to have it at, I would vote for a combination and to have it at Longton.  The extra funds can be used to really spruce up that fair and drive traffic towards it.

[Judy Harder]

Tobina

I was hoping to see you at the fair.
I was at the bean feed, it was very good and I did eat all I could hold.

Then I went to the barn to look at exhibits and they were very nice, but it was so hot in there......after all the evening sun was shining in the door and that is what helped the heat.....
I wish I hadn't left it till late to look around, I ususally enjoy that a lot.

Anyway I went back to watch the slave auction/food auction and became almost over heated so I opted out and when home.
Then Saturday I did watch the parade with Bob and Bonnie Mustoe and Bev and a whole slate of people.

It lasted 45 minutes.......was the longest we have had in years.......Course,  a good reason was Gus Jones had several of his
oil-rigs in the parade and they are very large.

I did enjoy the fair.....and I think we do have a nice fairgrounds and ball park arrangement and it was a "GOOD THING!"

[pepelect]

How do we approach the Howard Fair Board to not have the fair there every year?   How do we approach the Longton Fair Board to not have the fair there every year?   Why can't we just have one fair?   Are we that in love with the idea that we are unwilling to budge even a little.  How about a trial separation.   Keep the 4-H fair in Longton  for two years and see if the crowd is bigger, popcorn hotter, and 4-Hers happier if we went back to the same place twice in a row. Crowd attendance will be the litmus test.  If it doesn't improve from one year to the next then we switch back to Howard for two years?   If it does improve then leave the fair in its entirety where it fits in the best.   Howard will get over it.   

Yes, I am from Howard,  Yes I have helped at the fair for too many years not to hate it with such disdain that I will be glad to help haul the stupid HFA chairs to Longton as a gesture of good will...... Any takers?

[L Hendricks]

PEP - I with ya on this one - I think Longton has the nicer fair grounds and with a/c to the building it could be even better.  If we let Longton have the fair then Howard could do something really cool with their grounds... Putt putt was mentioned in another thread...I think all of these grounds are underutilitized... Elk Co Rodeo Grds, Polk Daniel Lakes, Longton Fair Grds, Howard Fair Grds, Moline City Lake... How can we improve these grounds and make them more than a one function land use...

I made it to the Parade - it was very good - of course Gus had all his equipment - but he deserved to showcase the blue machines... he and Denise survived the crappy 80-90s oil times and went from one rig that she and he worked on to the 3 rigs and pump trucks and all the employees... Congrats to a local raised guy for doing a bang up job...

The Farm Bureau Candidate forum was good - it was nice to see the Leos involved... (that's the kids).  They asked the candidates questions... Of course most of the local candidates were there, plus Jeff King and Derek Schmidt, then Lee Jones (running against Pat Roberts) and Betts (running against Tiahrt).  Good job Farm Bureau.

Came back for the livestock sale - thought the animals sold pretty well.  Have heard from 2 people that we have one of the best premium sales around... so thanks to all the local merchants and to the sale committee for getting that money.

The street dance was a blast... it was up town in front of BK's (the bar)... they roped off the whole block with firetrucks and misc vehicles... Lightning J set up a stage right in front of the bar.  The little kids had a blast.  Why can't we do that in front of Penny's.  By the time the sun went down, it was actually decent outside.  Don't know how the rodeo went.

[Tobina+1]

OK, here's the scoop.  There are basically many different groups to contend with on the Fair and 4-H Fair side.  The 3 main groups are #1)  Howard Fair Board, #2) Longton Fair Board, and #3) District Extension Executive Board. 
The 2 Fair Boards don't seem to have any offical membership, but they apparently used to.  It used to have a Board of Directors, which were also Stockholders.  Now, it's more like a volunteer program (and a get-volunteered program).  These 2 boards are in charge of the facilities and they either own or lease the grounds (i.e. at Howard they have a 99 year lease on the grounds).  The Boards donate $1,000 for ribbon premium money when the fair is at their location, and when it's not at their location they pay for all the ribbons (i.e.  Howard Fair Board will pay to purchase all the ribbons at this year's 4-H fair in Longton, since Longton is in charge of getting the facilities ready and pay for up-keep).  The local Board also pays for judges for the events, although the Extension Agent is in charge of finding the judges.
The District Extension Executive Board is now made up of 4 elected members from Elk County and 4 elected members from Chautaqua County (as of July 1).  The elections are in April and they serve a 4-year term.  This Board is in charge hiring, paying, and managing of the Extension Agent (which in Elk Co is also the 4-H agent).  They can tell the Agents what they can do and what they can't do.  Back in 1987 or 88, this board decided to only allow the Agent to conduct 1 4-H fair a year, which is why we now have the alternating fair.  Before then, the 4-H fair was in both locations and the kids had to exhibit at both.  The Exec Board decided this was too much for the Extension Agent, so they only allow the Agent to have one 4-H fair per year. 
The last 2 groups that have a stake in the 4-H fair is the county 4-H council which is made up of older 4-H kids and adult leaders.  They are elected from each club to be on the council.  They do set some policy for 4-H and for the fair, but not sure this is really their job.  The 4-H rules are dictated at the State 4-H level, and also by the Dist. Ext. Exec Board.  But some of the local policy is determined by the 4-H council, too.  The other group is the 4-H Sale committee who puts together the livestock premium sale and gets buyers and local businesses.  They can essentially set the date of the livestock sale, but they work together with the Fair Boards to determine the schedule. 
The other outside group that aids with the funding of the fairs is the County Commissioners, as Liz stated before.
Here are some other things to consider...
From an insider's view, neither location is better over the other, and both have serious facility changes that need to be made.  At Longton, the new exhibit barn and the show arena are good steps, but the layout for getting people to walk through the facilities and encouraging community involvement are lacking.  The location is shady, but is also in a hole and doesn't get much airflow.  At Howard, the exhibit barn is very bad, but the animal barns seem to be good and well located/layed out and easy for people to view the animals.  The location is out in the broad open with no shade, but the breeze helps (or hinders, depending on how hard it's blowing).
The 4-H Families that are attending these fairs and driving to/from the grounds every single day during the fair need to be considered and polled to determine which facility and location they prefer.  There also needs to be consideration for future 4-H families that will be joining in the next few years.
The Sale Committee needs to be able to work effectively with the Fair Board to be able to set the day for the livestock auction so that the animals can be shipped directly to the packing facility and/or salebarn in a timely manner after the sale.  For example, the animals that were sold on Saturday night had to be fed and maintained over the rest of the weekend so they could be loaded out Monday morning.  In the past, they've also tried a Friday night sale, but the hogs were the only animals that could be taked Saturday morning (going to a livestock auction barn that sells hogs on Saturdays). 

[Devyn-Leann]

Number one, I agree we need to have one fair. Number two, I know both of the locations need work. I'm a born and bred Howard girl and I don't want to see the fair moved but something needs to be done.

I agree with Tobina on polling the 4-Hers and parents on their location preferences. Lane, as well as all of my future children, will participate in 4-H. I live close to Severy and if the fair was in Longton each year I would have to haul livestock and any other projects. THEN, I would have to drive back and forth everyday for however many days the fair lasts. I'm sure Oak Valley 4-Hers would feel the same if they had to come to Howard.

[Wilma]

I have said it before and I will say it again.  The best location for an Elk County Fair + 4H is the rodeo grounds at the north 99-160 junction.  It would take new buildings, but the rodeo arena is already there.  Each town could continue to have their specific celebrations at the traditional time.  The fair could be held in the middle of July, between the usual Howard date and the usual Longton date. 

[Devyn-Leann]

I agree, Wilma. I think that would be a spectacular location.

[Flintauqua]

Why stop at combining only the two fairs.  Now that we have Elk and Chautauqua hitched as one extension district, why not add in the two Chautauqua fairs, along with the two Elk fairs and the 4th of July Rodeo.  I have just the name:

FANTASTIC FOURTH of july FLINTAUQUA FAIR