Fair Fun and Community Spirit: A Chat with Fair Board Member Shawn Littleton
Shawn Littleton from the Grant County Fair Board joins us to dive into the rich traditions and behind-the-scenes efforts that make the Grant County Fair a cherished community event. As we gear up for the fair kicking off on July 26th, Shawn shares insights into the extensive planning that starts as early as January and the challenges faced throughout the year. From the beloved 4-H exhibits to the thrilling demolition derby, this episode highlights how much heart and hard work goes into creating an unforgettable experience for everyone involved. We also discuss the importance of community involvement and how local organizations and volunteers play a vital role in making the fair a success. Join us as we explore the festivities, food, and fun that await at this year's fair!
In this episode of We Are Grant County, I sit down with Shawn Littleton, a dedicated member of the Grant County Fair Board, to talk about what goes into making the county fair happen each year.
From the exciting events and live entertainment, to the hard work of 4-H participants, homemaker exhibits, and the always anticipated Sale of Champions, Shawn gives us a behind-the-scenes look at the traditions and teamwork that bring the fair to life.
We also dig into:
- What it takes to organize a successful fair
- The importance of community involvement
- How local food vendors add flavor and fun
- What new or returning visitors can expect this year
Whether you’re a lifelong fairgoer or new to the experience, this episode is packed with insights, stories, and appreciation for the people who keep this cherished event going strong.
Exploring the vibrant tapestry of Grant County Fair traditions, this episode delves into the heart of community involvement and the tireless efforts behind the scenes. With Shawn Littleton from the Grant County Fair Board as our guest, we uncover the extensive planning that begins months in advance, highlighting the dedication of volunteers who work diligently to ensure everything runs smoothly. Shawn shares insights into the variety of events that make the fair a beloved staple, from thrilling tractor pulls to enchanting 4-H exhibits that showcase the hard work of local youth. We also touch on the logistical challenges faced by the fair board, such as managing parking during peak times, which can become a delightful chaos, especially when everyone is eager to enjoy the festivities. As we navigate the conversation, we emphasize the importance of community spirit, with anecdotes about how local organizations come together to support the fair, including donations of time, resources, and even homemade goods. This episode serves not only as an invitation to visit the fair but also as a heartfelt appreciation for the efforts that go into making it a cherished celebration of Grant County's agricultural roots and familial ties.
Takeaways:
- The Grant County Fair is a year-long effort, with planning starting as early as January.
- Volunteers play a crucial role in the fair, with many community members donating time and resources.
- Family Day at the fair is a special event that allows children with special needs to enjoy the fair in a supportive environment.
- The fair features a variety of events, from livestock shows to entertainment, highlighting the hard work of local youth.
- Traditions like the greased pig contest and pedal tractor pulls are beloved by attendees, showcasing the fair's fun spirit.
- Community involvement is key, with local businesses and residents coming together to make the fair a success.
Mentioned in this episode:
Transcript
I'm Michelle, your host, and in each episode, we spotlight people, stories, and places that make Grant County, Kentucky, a community worth knowing.
Speaker A:And this is We Are Grant County.
Speaker A:Now, let's jump into today's conversation.
Speaker A:I am joined with Katie Jimenez, my partner, on this journey with me and Sean Littleton from the Grant County Fair Board.
Speaker B:Hello.
Speaker C:Hello.
Speaker A:Hello, Sean and Katie.
Speaker A:Welcome to we are Grant county, and thank you for being a part of this episode.
Speaker A:Shawn.
Speaker A:The Grant County Fair is just under a week away, and everything kind of starts off, kicks off July 27th.
Speaker C:July 26th.
Speaker A:July 26th.
Speaker A:Okay, can you introduce yourself to the audience?
Speaker C:So I'm Sean Littleton.
Speaker C:I'm part of the Grant County Fair Board.
Speaker C:This will be my fourth year with them.
Speaker C:Spent 10 years previous at Falmouth Fair Board, Pendleton County.
Speaker C:We.
Speaker C:I moved over here, decided to get involved a little bit, started volunteering for them.
Speaker C:They decided after a couple years that it was a good thing to say, hey, Sean, you want on a fair board?
Speaker C:And here I am.
Speaker A:So how far in advance do things kind of start planning for the next fair?
Speaker C:We start.
Speaker C:We start talking about things in January.
Speaker C:You know that that's an off season for the fairgrounds, but it's more of an on season for us.
Speaker C:It gives us a chance to slow down physically, but mentally we can sit and talk and figure out what we want to get going for the next year, this following year coming up.
Speaker C:So we start right then.
Speaker C:And to be honest, everything leading up to the fair, all the events that we do, whether it's truck, tractor, pool, whether it's a demolition derby, and we have Skeeter Fest, all that, we're constantly working towards the fair.
Speaker C:Constantly.
Speaker C:You know, even though we're doing those shows, we're still working all over the fairgrounds because we know we have that big week coming up.
Speaker A:So would you consider that as like some of the challenges, too?
Speaker C:It's a huge challenge.
Speaker C:You know, every year you have, you have your normal maintenance.
Speaker C:There's quite a bit to be mowed up there, weed eated.
Speaker C:And if you don't keep up with gets way out of hand.
Speaker C:We do our best.
Speaker C:There's myself, and I have three guys on a committee underneath of me.
Speaker C:That's all we do is mow and weed eat.
Speaker C:But at the same time, we have building maintenance that we have to keep up with.
Speaker C:These buildings get run down year after year, and you can imagine people think that the more you use them, the worse they get broke down.
Speaker C:The less you use them, the worse they get broke down.
Speaker C:So, you know, we use that amphitheater a couple times a year, and that's all the attention it gets.
Speaker C:Deals building, it don't get no attention.
Speaker C:The Mitts building, that's a building that you're in yourself and.
Speaker C:And it gets no attention.
Speaker C:So, you know, these things don't get attention.
Speaker C:So, you know, we've really sped it up this year to giving these buildings attention and putting a lot of work into them.
Speaker A:Okay, so about how many people are part of the fair board or are working or volunteering to make all this happen?
Speaker C:So, you know, the thing about that is, is we have quite a few members on the fair board.
Speaker C:There is normally at a fair board meeting, there's normally six to eight or nine of us.
Speaker C:Everybody on that fair board works.
Speaker C:So we all have jobs.
Speaker C:So it's hard to make every meeting.
Speaker C:You know, we've got guys out there such as Jason o' Neal and Bobby Simpson.
Speaker C:Those guys are constantly working, constantly going, running their own businesses.
Speaker C:So they're on the fair board.
Speaker C:Those guys are the guys that work their hardest during fair week.
Speaker C:So we don't complain if they don't show up to fair board meetings because we know the week of the fair we can count on them and they're going to kill theirselves to get everything done, you know, that week.
Speaker C:Working the tracks, it's a constant maintenance every day for a track.
Speaker A:So what are some things that people may not realize that that goes on behind the scenes, like you mentioned, like the meetings that go on and all the maintenance.
Speaker A:I mean, that's a lot of things that, like, we.
Speaker A:We probably know that it happens, but we're not like, it's not mindful to us.
Speaker A:It's not word.
Speaker A:Unless we're seeing it done at the fair, during the fair, we're not paying attention that it has to be done like all year round.
Speaker C:Right?
Speaker C:It's you constantly.
Speaker C:Have you got like Craig Covey, who's our president?
Speaker C:Craig is constantly making phone calls.
Speaker C:He's constantly trying to find out who's going to do something to help us out in kind.
Speaker C:In other words, they're going to donate to us.
Speaker C:They're going to donate gravel, they're going to donate sand.
Speaker C:They're going to come up and do some electrical work on the big lights for us because they got a reach truck and they're not going to charge us.
Speaker C:You know, that's what the fair is made up of, is people and community getting together.
Speaker C:We're not.
Speaker C:None of us on that board make a dime none of us.
Speaker C:None of us.
Speaker C:None of my volunteers, my grounds committee makes a dime.
Speaker C:Everybody does this because they want to.
Speaker C:The guys that come and donate their time, the guys that come and donate money or.
Speaker C:Or donate a service to us is all volunteer.
Speaker C:They make nothing off of this.
Speaker C:So it is a huge community thing.
Speaker C:You know, people, last year, Seven Hills Church come up.
Speaker C:Man, they built me 20 picnic tables in six hours.
Speaker C:People don't ever see that.
Speaker A:That's pretty awesome.
Speaker C:You know, Garrett Daniels, he built my signs because people were able to buy the picnic table, and they were able to donate it to a fallen soldier or a husband or a son that was gone.
Speaker C:And he turned around and he hurried up in a week and made every steel sign that I needed, had them painted, put together.
Speaker C:People never sees that.
Speaker C:Yeah, never.
Speaker C:So, you know, people don't ever see what it takes to put this together.
Speaker C:They just know when they get there, it's.
Speaker C:It's ready to go and they're going to have fun.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:Well, and that's one of the things you could always talk about, too, is how can people get more involved?
Speaker B:If we're talking about the community and wanting to promote the activities of the fair, one of the ways that they.
Speaker C:Can get involved anytime that anybody wants to get involved.
Speaker C:I had a gentleman this year, David Lawson.
Speaker C:He was actually his nephew, got married up there.
Speaker C:We rented him the grounds, he cooked.
Speaker C:He got married there, had a beautiful wedding.
Speaker C:I've known David for years.
Speaker C:David come to me and said, shawn, I've been around fairs all my life with my grandpa, and my uncle's pulling trucks.
Speaker C:How do I get involved?
Speaker C:And I just smiled and said, oh, that's easy.
Speaker C:What day you want to come up here and help me mow?
Speaker C:But that's how you get involved, is you ask any fair board member, what can you do to help?
Speaker C:And you start helping us, then we automatically set that date of okay.
Speaker C:These people have been helping and working towards this fair.
Speaker C:They made it through this fair.
Speaker C:So two years is our bylaws.
Speaker C:If you can volunteer two years.
Speaker C:And whether just being a volunteer with no voice, everybody has an opinion at our meeting.
Speaker C:Everybody.
Speaker C:But to have a voting voice, you have to be there two years and let us vote you onto our board.
Speaker C:You know, so that's how that works, is you get with any of us and say, hey, how do I get involved?
Speaker C:How do I do these things?
Speaker C:No abuts 15 years old.
Speaker C:This is his second year.
Speaker C:No will be voted into the junior affair board, which they have at the high school.
Speaker C:Awesome.
Speaker C:So the high school, he can.
Speaker C:What he can do at that point is.
Speaker C:Is because we voted him in and he's junior, he can go into the high school and get people to be on the board with him.
Speaker C:And they are more than welcome to come to the meetings, just like we do as an adult, sit down, talk, you know, so they have a voice, too, at that point.
Speaker B:That's a contribution that they can make even at that young age.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker C:And what those children.
Speaker C:What Noah has found out is he gets volunteer time for school.
Speaker C:He gets a.
Speaker C:When he goes to fill out that college resume, he gets to put all these years on that fair, book on that resume with the fair.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker C:You know, and the people that he has gotten to meet and socialize with has moved him into a different work area than what he was already doing.
Speaker C:He now works for somebody that's connected to the fair.
Speaker C:So.
Speaker C:And he was like, I can't believe I'm just gonna go work for them all summer.
Speaker C:But that has opened those avenues.
Speaker C:So those young children get to open these avenues and get to meet all the business owners that are there helping us.
Speaker C:And they see those kids, how hard they're working for us for volunteer time.
Speaker C:Who wouldn't want them working for them?
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker C:You know, and getting paid.
Speaker C:They're gonna work just so much harder.
Speaker B:So I think this is more of a recruitment for the.
Speaker B:I think we went into that recruitment zone.
Speaker B:But, hey, I think this is a fantastic way to get involved in the community, and I think that's what this podcast's about.
Speaker A:Absolutely.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:So that's a fantastic point, to talk about community and then transition to the fair itself.
Speaker B:That's what they get excited about.
Speaker C:And we want these younger people, because people like myself, Craig Hopperton, we're talking 20 some years plus.
Speaker C:She's been doing this.
Speaker C:We can't do this forever.
Speaker C:We want the next generation to run this, though.
Speaker C:But we want to keep the same traditions.
Speaker C:So as long as they're running it with us and seeing what we're doing, those traditions will stay there.
Speaker C:The good part about having that junior fair board is they get to let the older fair board members, myself included, know what the younger people like.
Speaker C:So now we can get their attention because we're doing something they like, too.
Speaker C:So that's the good part about having that junior affair board is them giving us that input of, hey, my group that I'm in school with, we like doing this kind of stuff.
Speaker C:Is that something we can do during the fair?
Speaker A:All right, Shawn.
Speaker C:So, you know, it goes A lot of different ways.
Speaker C:They teach us as much as we teach them sometimes.
Speaker A:So like I said, you know, I just kind of.
Speaker A:I know the fair happens every year.
Speaker A:I did, I did not realize personally how much actually goes into it.
Speaker A:So thank you very much for doing all that you do.
Speaker A:And everybody that's on the board, what are some main events that may be happening this year?
Speaker C:So we, we have, of course we keep the main events.
Speaker C:That's what the people really like that we have.
Speaker C:You know, we have the derbies, we have the truck and tractor pools, we have the four wheeler races, we have the obstacle course for four wheelers, dirt bikes.
Speaker C:So the same main events that we, we normally have, you know, the people show and they, they really enjoy it.
Speaker C:The only thing we've done different this year is we moved a couple of those events around during fair week.
Speaker C:Truck and tractor pool's always been on Friday night.
Speaker C:Demolition derby's always been on Saturday.
Speaker C:So what we did, we moved the truck and tractor pool to Saturday night.
Speaker C:The Demolition derby is going to be on Friday night.
Speaker C:So what that does for us is helps us with parking because the parking gets so mad crazy on Friday night because we have the obstacle course for the dirt bikes and four wheelers over the hill.
Speaker C:We have a truck and tractor pool at the top of the hill.
Speaker C:And then we have Jason o' Neil and them put on the dead weight for the horse pool in the arena, and it turns into a parking nightmare.
Speaker C:Logistically, our volunteers are great.
Speaker C:But when you have traffic backed up all the way out Baton Rouge Road coming at you for three, four hours, it gets a little intense.
Speaker C:So moving those around a little bit will hopefully help us get cars parked a little quicker.
Speaker C:For people, they're not waiting as long to get into the fair.
Speaker C:So we're always trying to logistically make this happen a little easier so people can get in, get out.
Speaker C:It's always a frustration.
Speaker C:But we got a great group of girls at the front gate.
Speaker C:Basketball, they've been doing it for years.
Speaker C:They know what they're doing and they get them through, you know, so we have the challenge of getting them parked.
Speaker C:It just gets a little full when you have all those main events on one night.
Speaker C:So we're just trying to move them around a little bit.
Speaker C:And instead of having the obstacle course for four wheelers and dirt bikes this year on the bottom track, they'll be on the main track.
Speaker C:So everything's gonna be up top until the Demolition derby.
Speaker A:Okay, so, and speaking of volunteers, you mentioned the, the girls team I've seen different teams and different groups from all both schools and things like that, all volunteering during the fair at different nights, different times.
Speaker C:So that.
Speaker C:That's something else that I take care of.
Speaker C:I've been taking care of it for a few years.
Speaker C:Here is our volunteers for parking and the kitchen.
Speaker C:I go out every year looking for those volunteers.
Speaker C:The hard part about getting volunteers for parking, guys, is you gotta have, you know, 10 to 12 people every night, and you gotta have half and half.
Speaker C:So you can have half school children, but you gotta have half adults to control the chaos.
Speaker C:So it's hard to find an organization big enough to handle that responsibility.
Speaker C:You can't just get a group that's got 12 people and expect them to go at it six nights straight.
Speaker C:It's really hard.
Speaker C:This year, my cheerleaders have went to the kitchen and they're going to volunteer for us in the kitchen.
Speaker C:And then our soccer team is going to do all the parking for me.
Speaker A:Okay?
Speaker C:So, you know, we switched it up this year.
Speaker C:They decided they wanted to go that way, they wanted to go that way.
Speaker C:It made no difference to me.
Speaker C:I was just happy, very happy to have the help.
Speaker C:I'm very fortunate that I can find these groups every year, you know, that want to do this.
Speaker C:The plus side to that is they make money.
Speaker C:We pay them to do this through fair.
Speaker C:We pay them to park, we pay them to work the kitchen.
Speaker C:That's one way to benefit their organization so they can do things.
Speaker A:So it helps their team kind of be able to purchase things that they may need.
Speaker C:Absolutely.
Speaker B:Fundraising opportunities.
Speaker C:It's a good fundraising opportunity.
Speaker C:Like I said, it's just really hard to get enough people to do it because it's a lot.
Speaker C:Right.
Speaker A:So any hidden gems that we need to know about this year?
Speaker C:You know, one.
Speaker C:One hidden gem that I'm surprised people don't pay more attention to every year, which is up in your Deals building and your Mitts building, which is your homemakers.
Speaker C:Rebecca Quartz, she's over top of that.
Speaker C:You know, they go to a lot of trouble.
Speaker C:They were up there this weekend.
Speaker C:I was up there with them.
Speaker C:They cleaned, they moved everything out.
Speaker C:They got it all organized.
Speaker C:Next Friday night is early entry.
Speaker C:Next Sunday is early Entry.
Speaker C:They have so much different stuff in there.
Speaker C:I mean, anything from kids building Legos and little machines to gardens to vegetables.
Speaker C:You got 4H in there.
Speaker C:You have the B guy in there.
Speaker C:Everybody knows the BE guy.
Speaker C:I love it.
Speaker C:I love him to death.
Speaker C:Troy and his son, they're good people, but they're in there, then you, you know, you know yourself because you're over photography over in the midst of it building.
Speaker C:You all have the photography, you all have all the flowers.
Speaker C:So people never just walk into these buildings?
Speaker A:No, not that I've seen the last couple years that I've been volunteering.
Speaker C:And that's the thing.
Speaker C:And I.
Speaker C:So this year we have added.
Speaker C:We'll be able to open one of the garage doors.
Speaker C:It'll stay open.
Speaker C:We have put Plexiglas in one end of that.
Speaker C:We want to keep it air conditioning that way.
Speaker C:It's cool in there.
Speaker C:But now people can see in from the outside.
Speaker C:They can see what's going on in there.
Speaker C:But I really do.
Speaker C:I went in there last year and I found this little motor that this kid had built and I touched the battery and I probably wasn't supposed to.
Speaker C:I couldn't help myself, though.
Speaker C:But I touched the battery and this thing started turning around and around the.
Speaker C:I could see the pistons going up and down.
Speaker C:I could see the spark plugs fired.
Speaker C:And I was amazed.
Speaker C:And I probably played with that forever, you know, but so good for big kids, right?
Speaker C:I like to play too.
Speaker C:You know, I go in.
Speaker C:I especially go in when Carly and them is there because everybody makes brownies or cookies or something.
Speaker C:And I'm going to drop by and eat.
Speaker C:So, you know, I'm going to test everything.
Speaker B:So that's an opportunity for people to purchase things as well.
Speaker B:So.
Speaker C:So we.
Speaker B:They bring things for.
Speaker C:They bring things to show to.
Speaker C:They bring things to.
Speaker C:They, they.
Speaker C:They all get in their groups.
Speaker C:Like the quilts.
Speaker C:God forbid.
Speaker C:I'm gonna be honest.
Speaker C:I called them blankets one time.
Speaker C:Don't ever do that.
Speaker C:Don't ever.
Speaker B:It is a very prestigious event.
Speaker B:Quilters are.
Speaker B:You don't mess with those quilters.
Speaker C:If anybody's ever been yelled at without being yelled at, I was yelled at quite a few times because of the looks.
Speaker C:But they are quilts.
Speaker C:I put up a bunch of quilt hangers in the Deals building, me and Rebecca did, and they hung them in there.
Speaker C:But they get to show all this off.
Speaker C:They get to show what they grew in their gardens.
Speaker C:They get to show off the Legos they built.
Speaker C:They get to show off all these quilts that they've worked hard on all year.
Speaker C:And people don't walk in there and realize all this is in there to go look at.
Speaker B:It's the part of the fair that we don't necessarily think about, right?
Speaker B:We think about, you know, the carnival aspect and the rides, but there Are these hard working individuals that are showing off.
Speaker B:That's what, you know, a traditional county fair does.
Speaker B:And sometimes I think we can overlook that.
Speaker C:Well, Michelle, you're in the Mitts building.
Speaker C:I have, and I'm gonna be honest, I mean, I know I'm 100 mile an hour up there, but I've never walked in there during the show or during the week.
Speaker C:You know, I'm quite sure y' all have a lot of stuff in there.
Speaker A:Yes, pretty much the photography part is what I see the most of.
Speaker A:So people are bringing in their images that they've.
Speaker A:They're entering in multiple categories for photography.
Speaker A:There's an adult version and a kid's version.
Speaker A:And then in the other room that we had next to us is where the plants and flowers and things like that are all entered in.
Speaker A:And I think you were saying the quilts have moved, but the quilts for the last few years at least have been in the same room as the photography.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker C:So last year we hung up quite a few quilt hangers in the Deals building to hang from the ceiling to give more room everywhere else.
Speaker A:And there was not enough room.
Speaker C:No, no.
Speaker C:And I actually Rebecca and them asked me to add five more this year.
Speaker C:So I'm gonna add five more this week.
Speaker C:That way they have more room there.
Speaker C:And hopefully at some point here we will eventually get to the point that we actually add on to the Deals building to make it bigger and kind of get you guys out of the old double wide trailer.
Speaker C:That's something that we're working towards.
Speaker C:All I know about the double wide trailer is I get a list every year from Rebecca that says this light don't work, that light don't work.
Speaker C:Sean, I need you to get that working.
Speaker A:I think last year it was like last minute that you were working on some stuff because I think we needed power.
Speaker C:Yes.
Speaker A:Something in electrical outlet.
Speaker C:And you will find out I'm always working on something last minute.
Speaker C:It's power, water or it's something so we can never catch it all, I promise.
Speaker C:Because these things don't get used all year.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker C:I think I have it done and I don't, I really don't.
Speaker B:There's always something to surprise you, keep you on your toes.
Speaker C:Absolutely there is, Sean.
Speaker B:We talked about the backbones of the fair, how we get involved, community aspect of it.
Speaker B:But we all know that the fair is all about families getting families involved.
Speaker B:And there's always going to be family events.
Speaker B:But is there something in particular that families can look forward to?
Speaker C:So we have A family day on Thursday every year.
Speaker C:Something that, I mean, I absolutely love, I never had until I came to this fair.
Speaker C:We never done this in Pendleton County.
Speaker C:Special needs day.
Speaker C:They can come at 11 o' clock till 1 o'.
Speaker C:Clock.
Speaker C:They can ride the rides for free.
Speaker C:They eat for free.
Speaker C:Community comes together.
Speaker C:And those guys that specifically donated to that are back there cooking back there, cleaning back there, taking garbage out.
Speaker C:I mean, those people get together and they are there for those few hours just for those kids, you know, and there's a lot of different things for those children to do.
Speaker C:Some can't ride rides, but they actually turn some of the sound off, turn it down, you know, so that the children can.
Speaker B:So like sensory.
Speaker C:Yes, Sensory issues.
Speaker B:Sensitive, yes.
Speaker C:They get to run around there just like their every average kid and that's what they should get to do, you know, of an evening.
Speaker C:Everything's loud, it's crowded.
Speaker C:These kids have a hard time coming into that and can enjoy themselves that morning.
Speaker C:They get to enjoy themselves just like anybody.
Speaker C:It's theirs, it's their fairgrounds.
Speaker C:Go for it.
Speaker A:And I mean, personally, I've always been working and now that I'll be retired, I'm actually going to be attending that for the first time this year.
Speaker A:I'm going to try to get as many photos as I possibly can.
Speaker A:I'm really looking forward to it.
Speaker C:You know, I enjoy the fact that family night, every car load could come in for 30 bucks.
Speaker C:You know, if you're looking for that night that you can afford to fare, that's it.
Speaker C:I mean, $30 to get through the gate.
Speaker C:So, you know, every family can come in that night.
Speaker C:If you got five in your family, you're coming through the gate for 30 bucks.
Speaker C:If you got two in your family, you're coming THROUGH the gate for $30.
Speaker C:It don't matter.
Speaker C:It's $30 carload.
Speaker C:And that's a big night for us.
Speaker C:It's hectic because we got a lot of cars to park.
Speaker C:Everybody enjoys it.
Speaker C:The next coolest thing that I love that night is up in the barn where Chris Amberman and Mason, they do a lot of hard work to put this stuff together.
Speaker C:They have a special needs animal show.
Speaker C:These kids get to come and show their animals just like they're everybody else.
Speaker C:And you know, I try to make it up air because I absolutely love it.
Speaker C:Seeing these kids show their animals, you know, it don't.
Speaker C:You don't get no higher on the mountaintop than they are at that moment because they are grinning, they are having A blast.
Speaker C:Getting out there in front of that crowd and showing their animals.
Speaker A:And I actually learned about that last year, but after it had happened.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker A:And I was like, that is so cool.
Speaker A:You know, I wanted to be part of that as well, to kind of capture the moments.
Speaker A:It really.
Speaker A:For me, this year, it really depends on.
Speaker A:Because on family night, I photograph for Farm Bureau.
Speaker C:Yes.
Speaker A:And so I'm doing their truck and tractor pools, the kid versions and their games and things like that.
Speaker A:So things kind of overlap for me sometimes.
Speaker C:Well, and that's one of the other things that we do that night is you have all them up at the horse arena.
Speaker C:Now.
Speaker C:We've actually.
Speaker C:I think I'm going to try to move them into the horse arena this year to do all their activities except for the egg toss.
Speaker C:We don't want eggs in the dirt.
Speaker C:But all the other activities will be able to be done in the horse arena.
Speaker C:Last year it was in the grass.
Speaker C:We're gonna try to move it inside.
Speaker C:That'll help our parking a little bit.
Speaker C:But, you know, they got.
Speaker C:What is the pig.
Speaker A:The greased pig.
Speaker C:The greased pig, yeah.
Speaker C:You know, we're gonna be able to set all that up.
Speaker C:They got plenty of room in that arena.
Speaker C:The cool part about that is, is the kids are kind of out of reach of cars.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker C:That's what I like about it.
Speaker C:They're in the arena.
Speaker C:They're kind of enclosed.
Speaker C:They're right there.
Speaker C:The kids have a ball.
Speaker C:They had a ball last year with that pedal pool.
Speaker C:You know, we set them up a new track.
Speaker A:That track worked out much better.
Speaker C:Well, and it looked like they were on a track.
Speaker C:They had walls on each side of them and everything, so.
Speaker C:And I'll be honest, all the work that me and my guys do, we always talk about this night.
Speaker C:This is the night that does it for us.
Speaker C:That's the night we work for.
Speaker C:It's not the truck and tractor pool.
Speaker C:It's not the kitchen.
Speaker C:It's not the derby.
Speaker C:We work for that day and that night.
Speaker C:Because that's the night that is most looked at in the fair for us as that.
Speaker C:That's what this was all about, was all the families, all the kids doing what they want to do that day.
Speaker B:So, speaking.
Speaker A:Well, I did have a question about special needs during that day.
Speaker A:Is that for Grant county residents only?
Speaker C:No.
Speaker A:Or is it anyone with special needs can attend that.
Speaker C:Anybody with special needs can come in there.
Speaker A:That's amazing.
Speaker C:You know, that's what it's about.
Speaker C:Anybody with special needs.
Speaker C:I don't care what kind of special need you have, you are more than welcome to be there.
Speaker A:Awesome.
Speaker A:Thank you.
Speaker A:So with all the families that are becoming through the week, what.
Speaker A:What safety measures does the fair board put in place?
Speaker C:So, you know, you.
Speaker C:Well, let's go.
Speaker C:Let's start up at the front gate.
Speaker C:We have teachers up there.
Speaker C:We have basketball coaches and stuff up there, so we know that they are medically trained CPR children, adults.
Speaker C:You have myself and a couple other people that are also certified CPR and everything.
Speaker C:We always have officers that are in and out all night long.
Speaker C:Last year, we had the command center in.
Speaker C:The command center stayed open all night.
Speaker C:We have an ambulance or medics driving through constantly.
Speaker C:At times, they're able to park and just sit.
Speaker C:We have had a couple emergencies where, you know, somebody's overheated yourselves or fainted.
Speaker C:We are able to get those kids, and usually it's a child.
Speaker C:We're able to get those kids to those people, and they take really good care of them.
Speaker C:Fire department's always around there somewhere, you know, so there's a lot of medical workers, plus all the people that's running in and out of there.
Speaker C:You can't really imagine how many nurses you know.
Speaker C:So we know there's always nurses around, so they're always.
Speaker C:There's somebody there.
Speaker C:If somebody hollered, we had a medical emergency.
Speaker C:I promise you.
Speaker C:Moms come out of the woodwork because they're nurses.
Speaker C:So it's a comfort to us, too, you know, that we have them there.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:So what does the.
Speaker A:Being on the fair board or the fair itself, what does it mean to you?
Speaker A:What do you think that it means to the community?
Speaker C:When I got into this 14 years ago over in Pendleton county, my thing was I was tired of seeing kids run the streets and never having nothing to do.
Speaker C:A couple years into it, I ended up having about 10 kids every year that did nothing but volunteer with me, and they thought it was the greatest thing in the world.
Speaker C:So at the end of the day, for me, it's about the kids, about having them up there helping us, showing them what they can do, showing them what the possibilities are, you know, getting these kids interested in those Animal shows with Chris4H and these guys, showing them that there's something else out here besides these streets.
Speaker A:Mm.
Speaker C:You know, at the end of the day, that's what it is.
Speaker C:And a lot of people don't realize.
Speaker C:Throughout the fair week, I will have friends of Noah's come up and say, hey, is there anything we can help you all do, Sean.
Speaker C:Absolutely.
Speaker C:And I usually end up with two or three of them picking up trash every night for me.
Speaker C:And God bless them, because I don't want to do it.
Speaker C:But they jump.
Speaker C:They're right there to help, you know, so these kids are walking up on their own and asking us, is there any way we can help you all?
Speaker C:They're not being told by a mom or dad.
Speaker C:So what does that mean?
Speaker C:You know, you have kids wanting to help.
Speaker C:They see what this is doing and what's going on.
Speaker C:So that's what we always work for.
Speaker C:All of us adults, all, you know, myself, you all included.
Speaker C:You're working that your kid is never running the streets down here.
Speaker C:They're playing ball.
Speaker C:They're in activities.
Speaker C:You know, they're involved in the fair board, they're involved in the activities on the fairgrounds, whether it be 4H FFA, you know, there's always something going on to get your child involved in.
Speaker C:Cool part about it is you might not have time.
Speaker C:I promise you, somebody that is linked to that organization will get your kid and help you.
Speaker C:That is just who they are.
Speaker A:Yes.
Speaker C:You know, just like myself, I've had a couple kids this year.
Speaker C:I drive all the way to Florence on Friday night to pick them up just so they can help me on Saturday right here.
Speaker C:If that's what they want to do and that's helping them, then I guess I'll spend some gas money.
Speaker A:And it gives them the opportunity to meet people, learn new skills and kind of, I don't know, see what's going on in another world that they're not a part of.
Speaker C:Oh, absolutely.
Speaker C:They, you know, a lot of kids don't even.
Speaker C:They come to ride rides, you know, and when these kids get to realize, hey, I put this together for them to ride rides, it's a different feeling for them.
Speaker C:Kids, you know, they get to go to school and brag about it and be like, I spent my summer working on the fairgrounds.
Speaker C:And we did this.
Speaker C:We did this, you know, because I'm teaching them how to wire an outlet.
Speaker C:I'm teaching them how to plumb a sink, because that's what we're doing.
Speaker C:Teaching them how to paint, how to use a saw, you know, so it's not just about animals all the time, but we're teaching them as we go.
Speaker C:I'm not going to exclude them because they're 15 years old.
Speaker C:Well, I don't think you can wire that out.
Speaker C:Well, I'm going to show you how to wire the outlet.
Speaker A:So what are Some long standing fair traditions that locals, Grant Countyans we kind of look forward to each year.
Speaker C:Grease the pig.
Speaker B:Yes.
Speaker A:And I love the fact that you're moving that into the horse ring where there be more light.
Speaker A:Because photographing that has been difficult the last couple years.
Speaker C:I can imagine.
Speaker C:I really can.
Speaker C:And that's an aspect I didn't think of.
Speaker C:But you have to tell me or I don't think of it.
Speaker C:I've got other things that I'm thinking about.
Speaker C:I ain't thinking about that light.
Speaker C:That's one of the traditions that they're looking for.
Speaker C:The pedal tractor is one of the traditions.
Speaker C:Those kids up there in that sail barn and that's what we all try to get people to understand.
Speaker C:The fair traditionally has never been about the rides.
Speaker C:It's about those kids that's worked hard all year in 4H and FFA to show off.
Speaker A:And I'm actually learning that for the first time as an adult now that I teach 4H4 photography or that's not what I meant.
Speaker A:I teach photography for 4H.
Speaker A:I'm actually seeing that side of it.
Speaker A:Like growing up here in Grant County, I just went to the fair for the rides.
Speaker A:I never even knew that other part existed.
Speaker B:You didn't was there for funnel cake because I did not like the reason I go.
Speaker A:But I did not go for funnel cake.
Speaker A:But I didn't know that that stuff was even happening.
Speaker A:You know, I knew the derby happened on Saturday night.
Speaker A:That was in every now and then we went to that.
Speaker A:So I mean, I'm actually seeing like a whole new side of it.
Speaker A:And even this conversation is opening up my eyes to many things that I didn't know.
Speaker A:So I mean, I mean, traditionally, you know me, it was just rides.
Speaker A:But you're right, it's all about the animals and what the kids are.
Speaker C:Yeah, it's.
Speaker C:It is every child's chance to show off a little bit, you know, and they start on Saturday.
Speaker C:Chickens, rabbits, goats.
Speaker C:I don't care what kind of animal you have, you get to show it off.
Speaker C:You know, win, lose or draw, you get to show your animal off and you get to do things with it.
Speaker C:And that's what the tradition of the fair was about, was everybody showing off what they worked hard for all year long.
Speaker C:And that takes us back to the homemakers.
Speaker C:They're showing off what they've worked hard for every year, all year long.
Speaker C:And these kids get to show off what they've done.
Speaker C:The rides are just an added bonus.
Speaker C:The shows that we do are an Added bonus, you know, I will say if we didn't have rides or shows, we probably wouldn't have much of a fair.
Speaker C:So, you know, but that's what draws the people in.
Speaker C:I just wish the people would take the time to say, hey, let's go up to the barn, let's see the animals.
Speaker C:You know, the grand champion on Saturday night when they start doing those sales.
Speaker C:I've gotten the opportunity to be up there for about 30, 40 minutes and it was amazing to see these kids with these animals and selling these animals for the money that they go for.
Speaker C:You know, it's amazing to see what they started out with, this little young calf and now it's this great big bull and they've got it there.
Speaker C:You know, they've worked hard training this thing.
Speaker A:And that's another thing, like, because I've been invited to photograph that this year.
Speaker A:So I'm gonna find my way to the barn on Saturday and do my best to get as many of those moments as I possibly can.
Speaker B:The great thing about this is the way we're talking about it and that's why we're doing this podcast, right?
Speaker B:We want people to know about all of these hidden little things.
Speaker B:So we were talking about the grand champion, grand champion and how it's.
Speaker B:I mean, it's great seeing all these things.
Speaker B:So how do we get those kids involved?
Speaker B:Like, how can they get more information?
Speaker B:There's still time to sign up.
Speaker B:Like, where's that information?
Speaker C:So when it comes to the animals, the animals are a year long process.
Speaker C:So they have so many hours that they have to work with their animals, they have to show that they've worked with their animals.
Speaker C:So that's something you just don't jump into right before the fair.
Speaker C:But those programs are in our schools all year long.
Speaker C:4H FFA.
Speaker C:You know, anybody wants to get involved with something like that, it's a school function all year long, they can get involved right there at school.
Speaker C:Now, myself, my granddaughter, she loves her Legos and Rebecca told her this year, hey, I just found out you have Legos.
Speaker C:Call, get a number, it's participation number.
Speaker C:And you can bring that down here and compete this year in the deals building.
Speaker C:We have other kids that do it too.
Speaker C:So bring your Legos.
Speaker C:So that's something they can still get involved in today, right?
Speaker C:You know, that's something that they can get done and they can.
Speaker C:I don't care what they do, I don't care if they bake the piece.
Speaker C:They can get involved in that and.
Speaker A:Do it the photography would be the same way.
Speaker A:So you don't have to necessarily plan for that.
Speaker A:You can bring your images up on Sunday.
Speaker B:So it's not too late for our listeners and our community.
Speaker A:For some things.
Speaker B:For some things, Yeah.
Speaker C:I don't care if the kids collared a picture.
Speaker C:I'm sure we can find a spot for it, Honestly, I mean, I'm sure we can find a place for it.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:Yep.
Speaker C:You know, so it's.
Speaker C:It's about showing them that, hey, yeah, you did this and you tried.
Speaker C:We.
Speaker C:We're going to find a spot.
Speaker C:We're going to figure this out for you.
Speaker C:You know, like I said, your animal shows are a little bit more extensive, so you need to be involved all year long.
Speaker C:I know that they.
Speaker C:A program that they done this year, and I was wondering if it was going to come to the fair.
Speaker C:I haven't.
Speaker C:I haven't seen it yet.
Speaker C:Hopefully in.
Speaker C:In the future it will.
Speaker C:But they created a little bit of a welding program this year for kids, and they got together and started teaching these younger kids, younger kids how to weld through 4H, or I believe it was through 4H.
Speaker C:Yes.
Speaker C:Carly, Alicia Mize, her husband Billy was one of the participants that was helping show how to do this.
Speaker C:And they did it for a couple days.
Speaker C:They had so many kids sign up, they were originally just gonna do it for one.
Speaker C:They had to break it down to get two.
Speaker C:So there is more programs getting out there.
Speaker C:You know, you just have to be responsive when a parent sees it come through.
Speaker C:I'm the world's worst.
Speaker C:I open up my granddaughter's folder and don't read half of it, but we should really start reading it because these programs come through and we don't pay attention, and the kids don't always come to us and say, no, I want to do this, I want to do that.
Speaker C:You know.
Speaker C:But these are programs that actually get them going for their teenage years and eventually, hopefully lead into that lifetime job.
Speaker C:Because we're always going to need welders.
Speaker C:We're always going to need mechanics, you know.
Speaker A:Absolutely.
Speaker A:And, you know, volunteering with 4H here lately, I've seen a lot of the programs that they offer.
Speaker A:And again, it's something that I didn't even really know anything about growing up.
Speaker A:But now as an adult, I'm starting to see a lot of the things that they do offer.
Speaker A:And there are a lot.
Speaker C:Yeah, there's quite a bit.
Speaker C:I mean, there really is, and I don't know all of it.
Speaker C:And I've been Involved in the fair all these years.
Speaker C:Mine is usually on the motorsports side, the kitchen side, you know, volunteer side.
Speaker C:I don't get the time.
Speaker C:I wish I had more time to get more involved with the 4H and FFA.
Speaker C:I grew up a farm boy, you know, growing tobacco, throwing hay, raising cattle and.
Speaker C:But I don't get time now.
Speaker C:But on the other side of things, what me and my guys do is just as important because we got to have it all ready for these kids when they get there at the end of the day.
Speaker B:So basically, with the events.
Speaker B:So we have all of the machinery and the dirt and the mud and the fun that.
Speaker B:The.
Speaker B:That.
Speaker B:And then we have the crafts.
Speaker B:So there's a little bit of everything.
Speaker B:But how do.
Speaker B:How do we.
Speaker B:So, like, I'm a transplant, right?
Speaker B:So I've only been here 10 years.
Speaker B:We've been going to the fair maybe four years.
Speaker B:There's still a lot I don't know.
Speaker B:So where would I go to find that information?
Speaker B:Like, where can I get the schedule, the events?
Speaker B:Where.
Speaker B:Where are we?
Speaker C:You.
Speaker C:You can go.
Speaker C:So if it's during the summer, school's out and you want to know about something, we have a great extension office right there at the fairgrounds.
Speaker C:You can walk in there, and any one of those ladies can answer any question about anything that you want to know, and that's a fact.
Speaker C:They.
Speaker C:They really can.
Speaker C:They put a lot of work into this over the year.
Speaker C:So if it's during the summer, yes, go to our extension office.
Speaker C:Those guys can point you in the right direction.
Speaker C:If not, set you down and show you how to do it during the school year.
Speaker C:School is your greatest way of educating yourself of what's.
Speaker C:Hey, look at your 4H program go online.
Speaker C:Look up Grant County 4H, see what kind of programs they have.
Speaker C:And then when it comes to the fair, you can go onto Facebook, to grand county fair.
Speaker C:You can look it up.
Speaker C:You're gonna have schedules on there.
Speaker C:It takes us a while to get going.
Speaker C:We have to have books made.
Speaker C:So we don't put out an actual schedule until that book's printed.
Speaker C:Once the books printed, now, we can put out a schedule, right?
Speaker C:Because we make so many changes.
Speaker C:You know, we're all talking to each other back and forth, and we change things sometimes daily, and sometimes we never change anything.
Speaker C:It just depends.
Speaker C:Matter of fact, Amanda Clifton, I just talked to her tonight.
Speaker C:She is our treasurer, and I actually called her about you, Michelle, and saying, hey, she's going to take pictures for us all week.
Speaker C:This week of the Fair.
Speaker C:I need to get some passes.
Speaker C:And she was like, oh, she needs press passes.
Speaker C:I said, yes, she does.
Speaker A:So I'll take them.
Speaker C:But you know, you taking those pictures and sending them over to me like you did last year.
Speaker C:Yes.
Speaker C:You know, we get to put those on our page.
Speaker C:We get to do things to show people what all the fair was about that year, you know, so that's a huge help to us.
Speaker A:And I think I only did it maybe just Saturday, but this year I'll do as much as you guys want me to do.
Speaker C:Yeah, we.
Speaker C:We really want to Monday night all the way through Saturday, you know, and if you are there on.
Speaker C:On the Saturday before which, that's when the fair actually starts, guys.
Speaker C:Is on the 26th.
Speaker C:So you have your little baby pageant.
Speaker C:Kim and him work real hard to put these pages together.
Speaker C:And we.
Speaker C:We even have a special needs pageant, guys.
Speaker C:Okay, I love these girls that I have.
Speaker C:I had a blast with them last year.
Speaker C:Blast with them last year.
Speaker C:They.
Speaker C:They do split the pot and they come and work it themselves.
Speaker C:This helps them go to state.
Speaker A:Okay?
Speaker C:So if they.
Speaker C:If they win and they get to go to state, this helps pay their way.
Speaker C:So we do split the pot and that helps them, but they work it themselves.
Speaker C:The special needs comes up and works at theirselves.
Speaker C:That's what I love about it is watch these girls, you know, But Kim and them really, really work hard to do these pageants.
Speaker C:They make sure that every girl is there prepared.
Speaker C:If.
Speaker C:If they don't have a dress, Kim's gonna find it.
Speaker C:They don't have a pair of shoes, that woman's gonna find it.
Speaker C:And that's all there is to it.
Speaker C:She works really hard at it.
Speaker A:Now, are those in the fare book as well?
Speaker A:Like, if we had a fair book, would we find the times for those to take place?
Speaker C:Yes, the fair book.
Speaker C:And it's out right now.
Speaker C:It's at different locations.
Speaker C:We always put stacks of them at different locations.
Speaker A:I picked mine up at the 4H building.
Speaker A:So.
Speaker C:Yeah, so your extension office down there is always going to have our fair books running around it.
Speaker C:We do put them out at banks and stuff like that through town here.
Speaker C:That way people can grab it up, look at the schedules.
Speaker C:And there's even entry forms for certain things in there that you need to fill out.
Speaker C:They have it there.
Speaker C:You have it online, you have it, you have it multiple different ways.
Speaker C:I'm old school.
Speaker C:I like opening the book, filling out the form and handed it to somebody.
Speaker C:I don't want to get on the Internet and do it.
Speaker C:But yes, there's so many different ways that you all can find the information out.
Speaker A:Is there anything.
Speaker A:I mean, we've covered so much and I appreciate it very much and I know the listeners would like to hear, you know, learn something new that they may not.
Speaker A:May not have already known.
Speaker A:Is there anything that you think that we may have forgotten that we.
Speaker A:That you might want to share?
Speaker C:Not really.
Speaker C:I mean, last year we started to do some live music.
Speaker C:We are going to have live music this year.
Speaker C:We're going to have another karaoke contest on Saturday night.
Speaker C:People really enjoyed it.
Speaker C:What I enjoyed about it was people's out there line dancing.
Speaker C:I was having a ball.
Speaker C:You know, we got people line dancing at our county fair, guys.
Speaker C:This is awesome.
Speaker C:You know, so this year we're actually selling like on Saturday night for the truck and tractor pool.
Speaker C:We are selling the spots on the wall.
Speaker C:So you will have a pacific spot that you park in.
Speaker C:It's yours.
Speaker A:Okay.
Speaker C:You don't have to show up a week early to put your truck there.
Speaker C:Now you just get online.
Speaker C:You can buy pre buy the spot or you can buy it as you're coming through the gate.
Speaker C:Demolition derby on Friday night.
Speaker C:We're gonna sell the spots on the hill.
Speaker C:Steve and David, Steve Butts, David Lawson will be down there, be selling the spots right there at the hillside to get you parked.
Speaker C:So now instead of parking your car two days early or your truck two days early, you just come in by a spot that yours, you know?
Speaker A:Yeah, that was interesting parking because I went to the demolition derby last year and it was the first one I had attended in years.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker A:And probably the first one I ever attended is I had to drive myself.
Speaker A:And it was at this location and not at the grant county.
Speaker A:Grant county park anymore.
Speaker A:And it's kind of like park on a hill.
Speaker A:You want me to do what?
Speaker A:Yeah, you know, I got my van next to all these trucks.
Speaker C:Yep.
Speaker C:Well, and we look at you usually and say, hey, do you think you can get out of there?
Speaker C:And if you say yes, you're in trouble.
Speaker C:We're going to tell you to go that way.
Speaker C:You know, we.
Speaker C:We want to accommodate everybody.
Speaker C:And I do do a lot of that through throughout the week.
Speaker C:People laugh at me.
Speaker C:But we got a lot of hillsides.
Speaker C:We.
Speaker C:Well, when I start seeing us start getting full in certain spots, I tell a couple of the people, hey, four wheel drives go on that hill and every boy and girl, they want to put them in four wheel drive just to park on the hill.
Speaker C:So it's pretty easy, you know, But I get to laughing about it because you just look down there and you got all the four wheel drives parked on the hillside straight up and down.
Speaker C:You know, they're happy to do it too.
Speaker C:They never argue.
Speaker C:It's funny.
Speaker C:But yes, we are doing a few things different like that.
Speaker C:You know, guys, at the end of the day, we have bills, we have electric, water, you know, we have a payment.
Speaker C:It's public knowledge, you know, and we have to pay those things.
Speaker C:Something people don't understand.
Speaker C:And I will mention this to you all that, you know, we pay for everything at that fair.
Speaker C:If you want a ribbon, we bought the ribbon, we paid the winnings out.
Speaker C:So we don't make this huge, big amount of money that everybody thinks, oh, well, they're charging $15 at the gate.
Speaker C:Half of that gate goes to the carnival.
Speaker C:So we just went from 15 to $7.50.
Speaker C:So.
Speaker C:But now we have to pay everything out.
Speaker C:You know, them truck pullers come in there and it might be ten grand that night for them to do that show.
Speaker C:We pay that, you know, we.
Speaker C:We pay every ribbon, we pay every winning.
Speaker C:We.
Speaker C:We pay that as a fair board.
Speaker C:So when you get done paying everything at the end of the year, we want to cry because we've put so much time and effort into this.
Speaker C:And we're looking at, yeah, we didn't make anything.
Speaker C:You know, we're.
Speaker C:It's not a.
Speaker C:If you want to get in business, don't get in fair business, okay?
Speaker C:But that is something that people do not realize is how much we put out.
Speaker C:You know, we pay for all this winning stuff.
Speaker C:We pay for that to happen.
Speaker C:We pay for the parkers, we pay for the people in the kitchen.
Speaker C:Every event you see on that track, we paid them to do that.
Speaker C:They didn't come and do it for free.
Speaker C:So it's, you know, we put out a lot of money throughout that time.
Speaker C:And poor Amanda, she has to write the checks for everything.
Speaker C:So I promise you that is one woman that earns everything that week.
Speaker C:She sits in the front office and does the money for the Parkers.
Speaker C:And plus writing all the checks.
Speaker C:By the end of the week, that poor woman is wore out and she volunteers all of her time, guys, you know, so.
Speaker C:But I do, I really do want to thank.
Speaker C:I'm thankful that we have the fair board members that we have.
Speaker C:They put a lot of time, a lot of work, a lot of effort into this.
Speaker C:I appreciate the volunteers that we have that are wanting to be Members, because it takes a lot for you to work for two years, but you have no voting powers.
Speaker C:You're not able to have that say so, you know, and it takes a lot to do that.
Speaker C:And our fair board meetings, just like everything, if you got 10 people there, we're all not going to agree on everything.
Speaker C:So there is some going back and forth, of course, but that's.
Speaker C:That's part of it, you know, and we all have learned to just go back and forth with each other, and we can walk out the door and we're laughing, talking about dogs and cats when we're out in the parking lot.
Speaker C:You know, we don't.
Speaker C:We know that that's part of it.
Speaker C:It's a good fair board.
Speaker C:It's a good fairgrounds.
Speaker C:We have a good community here.
Speaker C:Love working with this community.
Speaker C:I have a lot of people in this community that's always wanting to help.
Speaker C:You know, you call somebody up and say, hey, is there any way you can do this?
Speaker C:For instance, shirts and stuff.
Speaker C:Debbie, she's great.
Speaker C:Every year, how she donates is she makes me new yard signs, and she donates us that to us.
Speaker C:And we hang her.
Speaker C:All we do is hang her painter up.
Speaker C:But instead of her paying us, she just donates that to us.
Speaker C:But that's money out of her pocket that she had to pay to do that in her time.
Speaker C:So, you know, there's different ways that you can give to the fairgrounds.
Speaker C:It ain't always just handing us money.
Speaker C:You know, it's that volunteer time, or it's, hey, we'll make this for you.
Speaker C:Hey, we'll do that for you.
Speaker C:We got a guy, guys bringing a load of gravel or guys bringing a load of sand, you know, so that.
Speaker C:That's what it takes.
Speaker C:But it takes a whole community to do it.
Speaker C:I promise you that.
Speaker A:Yes, absolutely.
Speaker A:So if there was somebody who's never been to a Grant county fair, what would you tell them?
Speaker A:What would.
Speaker A:What would be something that they might need to know.
Speaker C:Be prepared to buy a lot of water because it's hot.
Speaker C:No, you.
Speaker C:You come whatever night that you're interested in.
Speaker C:You.
Speaker C:That's where you look at the schedule.
Speaker C:Y' all were asking me about the schedule schedules, you know, because we have, like, our garden tractors pool.
Speaker C:You have kids and adults out there on garden tractors.
Speaker C:So if that's something you want to see, make sure you make that night and you come up and see us.
Speaker C:We have great vendors, food vendors that are there.
Speaker C:You know, you got some of the same ones that are there.
Speaker C:Every year you got Brett Caldwell with his pizza.
Speaker C:And by the way, he.
Speaker C:He's got a new one, and he.
Speaker C:He can do a little.
Speaker C:Few different things out of it.
Speaker C:Like at the vendor event, they done barbecue.
Speaker C:Oh, it was great.
Speaker C:You have Skippy's, man.
Speaker C:Skippy's part of the fair.
Speaker C:I mean, Skippy's is part of Grant County Fair.
Speaker C:I don't think it would be Grand County Fair without Skippy's there.
Speaker C:You know, a great older couple.
Speaker C:Love them to death.
Speaker C:My granddaughter has got everybody fooled out there because she can go anywhere and she comes back with food, and I didn't pay for it.
Speaker B:So, you know, it sounds like she benefits more than.
Speaker C:Yeah, but also, I know.
Speaker B:I've seen her doing work.
Speaker B:I know you put her to work.
Speaker C:She has picked up a lot of trash this year.
Speaker C:A lot of trash on those fairgrounds, you know, so every time I say, well, we're going to fairgrounds, she's like, we picking up trash.
Speaker C:Bathroom.
Speaker C:No, we're not.
Speaker C:But she has done a lot of work there this year, and she's.
Speaker C:Hopefully.
Speaker C:She actually asked me about the Junior Fair board this weekend.
Speaker C:She's nine years old, so it's.
Speaker C:I was like, you got to be a little older.
Speaker B:Well, I think that's kind of.
Speaker B:It sounds like there's some incentives to volunteering.
Speaker B:I think I might have to ask for my pay and funnel cake or something.
Speaker C:Oh, yeah.
Speaker C:I mean, I get fat.
Speaker B:I think I. I think I know where my N is.
Speaker C:Yeah, I get.
Speaker C:I gain.
Speaker C:I gained 10 pounds that week.
Speaker C:Even though I am sweating and running.
Speaker C:I gained 10 pounds.
Speaker C:Cause somebody's handing me something to eat all the time, which is great.
Speaker C:We have a great kitchen staff.
Speaker C:They really work hard.
Speaker C:They've got it down pat, and they know how to get it out.
Speaker C:And it does.
Speaker C:It gets frustrating when you see that line out to the grass and it.
Speaker C:And it looks like it don't move for two hours.
Speaker C:It's still out the grass.
Speaker C:You know, we're just serving it as quick as we can cook it and get it out, so.
Speaker C:But we do have a few new vendors, you know, the donut people.
Speaker C:It wouldn't be Grand County Fair without donuts, guys.
Speaker C:You know, so they're going to be there.
Speaker C:But we do have a few different ones coming.
Speaker C:We try to do that each year.
Speaker C:If you're a vendor, you know, we want to know that, hey, we don't want you making hamburgers.
Speaker C:You making hamburgers, you making it.
Speaker C:We want everybody to be different that way.
Speaker C:Everybody gets an opportunity to try something different and to sell something different.
Speaker C:Craig works really hard on that, you know, so getting vendors there, getting them set up.
Speaker C:Of course, we have all of our local tractor guys, you know, cornerstone, John Deere, you know.
Speaker C:Right.
Speaker C:Implement.
Speaker C:All these guys, they put effort into getting all their tractors up there.
Speaker C:They donate tractors to us to use.
Speaker C:They donate side by sides for us to use all week long.
Speaker C:Guys, that's ours that we put on them.
Speaker A:Yes.
Speaker C:And they don't get that back.
Speaker C:So don't bring us a brand new one because we're going to use it now.
Speaker C:You got, you got to sell it for used.
Speaker C:So, you know, but these guys do this year after year and that's what makes our fair work.
Speaker A:That's amazing.
Speaker A:And I mean, just thank you so much, Sean, for stopping by and, and basically giving us all this information about the fair, because I had absolutely no idea.
Speaker A:Katie, thank you for sitting on in, sitting in on this podcast.
Speaker B:I didn't have to go very far, so I was pretty lucky.
Speaker B:I didn't even have to get in the car.
Speaker C:Well, that was the cool part.
Speaker C:I walked down here.
Speaker B:You know, we do have the benefit of having you as a neighbor, Sean.
Speaker C:I appreciate that.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:Some of that equipment might come in handy later.
Speaker B:See, there's a reason you should volunteer with the bear.
Speaker C:Yes.
Speaker B:There's so many people you meet and.
Speaker C:But at the same time, if you get too close to me, you might become a babysitter on the days I need you in an emergency.
Speaker C:You all know we have been put.
Speaker B:To work before too.
Speaker B:So it's a give, take relationship for sure.
Speaker C:Yes.
Speaker C:It takes an army.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:But I echo that.
Speaker B:Thank you so much, Sean.
Speaker B:I'm glad to be here talking with you and Michelle.
Speaker C:I'm glad you all had me up.
Speaker C:I appreciate it.
Speaker C:I hope I enlighten a few people.
Speaker C:I hope few people come just because they're interested now in different things.
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