Pavilion complete, fair board meets

The Sanders County Fair Commission held its monthly meeting for the first time in nearly a year in the pavilion, which caught fire during the 2017 fair.

Day Springs Restoration started working on the pavilion kitchen late last year and completed their work last week, although Chris McGuigan, the fair manager, said three of the five sinks leaked. The manager and board were not pleased that the contractor took this long to complete the work, a job that cost about $60,000 and cost the fair some $5,000 in lost revenue. A wedding last weekend was the first time the fair could rent out the space since the fire. In addition, the manager told the board that the leaks under the pavilion were not caused by freezing, but were due to contractors walking on the pipes when they were putting in the floor joists.

The fair board signed the last of the contracts for this year’s fair with the approval of Paradise Amusements, a new carnival for Sanders County Fair. McGuigan said the Coeur d’ Alene-based carnival gave the fair a better deal than Davis Amusement Cascadia, providing 25 percent of the take from $0-$150,000, which was 2 percent higher than Davis. From $150,000-$200,000, the fair gets 27 percent and anything over $200,000 nets the fair 22 percent. Paradise Amusements will provide 11-15 adult rides and 5-7 rides for kids. They will also have a dozen games and the fair gets $100 per game booth, double what Davis agreed to.

The fair manager has nearly all the commercial vendor spaces filled with more than 60 already reserved, but he had a conflict when one of them was informed that he wouldn’t be able to have a space because another vendor had the same product. It’s a policy that the fair has tried to keep for at least the 19 years that McGuigan was fair manager or on the board. “We try not to duplicate booths for the integrity of our vendors. It’s only fair,” said McGuigan, who added that some vendors have been paying for space at the Sanders County Fair for over 20 years. “We do want to honor those people that have been here awhile because they’ve supported our fair for a long period of time,” he told the board. He said many of the vendors are local, but they get some from as far away as Arizona and Texas. As of last week, he had only four commercial spaces open. He also has 18 food and drink vendors, which includes the nine spaces filled by the Sanders County Concessions Group.

On Monday, it was decided that the fair board would make the decision on the displeased vendor so the manager wouldn’t have to deal with it. Even though the fair informs potential vendors when they send out their annual letters, board member Heidi Kirkwood believes the fair should have a written statement regarding the duplication policy.

The board and manager also discussed the parking situation for the upcoming fair. The manager had hoped to rent the space across the road, as they have done in the past, but he recently discovered that the person who lives there is renting the property and didn’t have the authority to lease the lot. However, McGuigan said they have more than 5,000 parking spaces on fairgrounds property. Parking will once again be done by a Post Falls, Idaho, church group. McGuigan said no local group would take the job.

Coby Guenzler, 17, of the Little Bitterroot 4-H club was the winner in the fair theme contest with “Country Pride, County Wide.” Guenzler will receive $25 in fair bucks. The fair board received theme ideas from kids from the 4-H clubs of Little Bitterroot, Whitepine Happy Workers, South Side Sparks, Heron-Noxon Explorers, and the Thompson Falls Mountaineers.

The board also selected Karen Dwyer of Thompson Falls as the recipient of this year’s Community Service Award. Dwyer has been a 4-H volunteer and a 4-H leader for 28 years, said Juli Thurston, the MSU extension agent in Thompson Falls and the person who nominated Dwyer. Included in the numerous 4-H roles, Dwyer is the county program awards coordinator, serves as the home economics superintendent, fruit sale coordinator, and coordinates the annual fashion and revue contest. Thurston said Dwyer has been a club organizational and project leader for multiple projects and has been the council secretary for numerous years.

“Karen is a pillar of the Sanders County 4-H Program. Her heart is deeply devoted to the benefit of youth,” wrote Thurston, who added that Dwyer is also a Relay for Life volunteer and a county spelling bee judge. “She is motivated, caring, considerate to everyone, talented in her efforts and dedicated to serving others.” 

The next fair board meeting is scheduled for Wednesday, July 18, at 7 p.m. at the pavilion.