County Fair officials hope for big numbers

— County fair organizers hope to build on last year’s experience and move forward with rebuilding an old tradition.

“Last year was much better than the previous few years,” said Dan Douglas, fair board member.

Douglas said one difference is the fair’s schedule is slightly altered this year, running from a Wednesday through a Sunday - Aug. 17-21. The shift from the old Tuesday through Saturday schedule was necessitated by the carnival schedule.

“We have to schedule the fair around when we can get the carnival there,” Douglas said.

He said this summer’s unusually hot weather is a concern, but he’s not just counting on cooler temperatures.

“Hopefully the weather will cool off,” he said. “But we will have some portable cool cells set up. They’re kind of like the old swamp coolers or water coolers.”

Douglas said he thinks the fair may have gotten through the initial shock of leaving its longtime home near downtown Bentonville, which was compounded by a two-year battle with rainy weather.

Last year, Douglas said, a move to mid-August and hiring Murphy Brothers Expositions of Tulsa, Okla., aided the fair in making a comeback.

“Anytime you move to a new location it’s not thesame as it was and some people don’t like that,” Douglas said. “Then we had two years of terrible weather. Last year was our first year in August and - with the exception of our first year in the new location - it was our best year out here. Murphy Brothers brought a great set of rides and they will be back this year.”

Mary Wall, fair manager, said this year will be the 107th year for the Benton County Fair and the fifth year in its new location at 7640 S.W. Regional Airport Blvd., which is on Arkansas 12 near Vaughn. Wall said last year’s fair attendance topped 20,000, compared with 2009 when attendance was down about 14,000.

Fair Board president TimCraig said the fair has been changing to keep up with changes in Benton County. A growing population has created more opportunities for people in search of entertainment, he said, so the fair is adding events while keeping its traditions.

“We’re trying to restructure things,” Craig said.

Craig said this year’s fair will offer a Friday night concert featuring the band River’s Edge from Tahlequah, Okla. Douglas pointed to an antique tractor pull and invited fairgoers to try their hand at riding a mechanical bull.

Janice Shofner, an agentwith the Benton County Cooperative Extension Service, said long-standing fair traditions will still make their presence felt. Shofner works with local 4-H clubs and said the youth livestock shows, photography, crafts and cooking will all be featured.

“A big one for the fair is the livestock,” Shofner said. “That’s one you naturally think of and it’s one they’ve been working on all year. They raise their animals. They have to get up early and feed and water and walk them. We’ve also got crafts like sewing, food preservation and canning.The week of the fair - and the weeks before it - we’ll have lots of cooking and baking being done.”

Shofner said the 4-H clubs also will be providing volunteers to work at the fair and will set up and staff informational booths.

“In the past they’ve done things like Internet safety, texting and driving, just different issues,” Shofner said. “They try to look for different issues that are timely, things people are talking about. The fair booths let them learn how to work with others within a committee. They’re also learning presentation skills.”

School News, Pages 11 on 08/10/2011