Fair looks to add youth event

The Sanders County Fair is fast approaching and the fair staff has most of the events and contracts ready with only minor details to be worked out, but at last Wednesdays meeting a Hot Springs resident asked to add another event for the kids.

Justin Wright told the board that he'd like to hold an Agricultural Mechanic Show, where kids from eighth grade to seniors could display agriculture related pieces they had built. Wright, a welding teacher at Hot Springs High School, said the items could be wood or metal or a combination of both. He got the idea from the Montana State Fair and from fairs in Texas, where his parents reside. He said the kids would be judged on workmanship, presentation, functionality, general appearance and design. He's still working out details on judges and awards and looking for sponsors for possible monetary awards.

The fair board members all agreed that it sounded like a good idea. They couldn't vote on it because it was not on the agenda, but would address the subject at next month's meeting on Wednesday, June 8.

The annual fair - taking place this year Sept. 1-4 - is the busiest event of the year, but the fairgrounds will be hosting two other big events this summer, an arena motocross competition and a monster truck event. In recent years, the fairgrounds have attracted a lot more people wanting to lease the arena, grounds, pavilion, and other buildings, according to Fair Commission Chairman Randy Woods.

Woods said that over the last three years, the fairgrounds has raised a lot more revenue than in previous years. It used to be that the fair sometimes raised less than $6,000 a year, but by the end of March this year they had received around $26,000, said Woods, the chairman for three years and a board member since 2018. The motocross and monster truck events will each fetch $3,000 to rent the fairgrounds arena, said Melissa Cady, the fairgrounds manager since May 2019. 

"The fairgrounds have changed so much over the last three years. We're using the pavilion a lot more than four times a year and if we keep doing that, we'll become self-sufficient and then we won't have to rely on taxpayers," said Woods. The fair board has been working to get the upgrade the pavilion, including making it handicap accessible, better insulated and with new LED lights. Cady said the building exterior was painted last year and workers recently installed a new floor, replacing the one that Woods believes is more than 40 years old. He said two new stoves will soon be installed to replace the more than 30-year-old stoves. A heating system was installed in the Agriculture Building, which Cady hopes will increase its rental value.

Cady said the improvements will certainly make the buildings more appealing for events. Woods said the money for improvements has come from rental fees. "We're not trying to get a big bank account; we're doing this to make improvements to the fairgrounds to attract more events," said Woods. "But we want to keep the old farmer look with the old barns and we want to keep the old fair feel."

Woods said the grounds and buildings are being leased for parties, weddings, funerals, nonprofit group fundraisers and last year the district court started leasing the pavilion for large jury selections. In the last few years, the grounds have also been leased for estate auctions and other events. A large livestock auction took place on the grounds last year and on Saturday, Kevin Hill conducted a large multi-family estate auction. 

Woods said the board is looking to hire a full-time employee to help the current caretaker, Kim McNeil, with the 50-plus acre grounds and building maintenance, particularly after the small park and beach were added to the fair's responsibility, according to Woods, who believes having another full-time staffer will help reduce vandalism at the park. The county will soon be advertising for the position. The fair commission plans to start working on the next fiscal year budget this month. The present budget is good until the end of June. The next fair board meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, June 8, at 6 p.m. in the pavilion.

The Monster Truck Family Reunion Tour is returning to the fairgrounds July 8-9. Cady said they set up the arena for their monster trucks and returned everything back to normal afterward. Top Dawg Arena Cross out of Kalispell is scheduled for August 5-6. This will be the second consecutive year for the Kalispell motocross company to lease the main arena for the competition. They had about 75 races last year, including just over a dozen local contestants. Jamie Larsen, who owns the company with her husband Tyler, said they're going to have about 20 different race classes this year. Tickets will be $20 for adults and $10 for children over 6 years old.

One recent improvement at the fairgrounds was the work of Hailey Coe, the administrative assistant, who revamped the fair's website. She started working on it in October and finished it last week, making it more user friendly. She said it will be updated as event tickets go on sale. The site contains a calendar of events, forms, commercial vendor applications and links for purchasing rodeo tickets, the demolition derby and other events. "And it also features photos of the majority of our food vendors, so that when you click on their picture it will actually link you back to their website or Facebook page," said Coe, who's been working at the fairgrounds for three years.