Five apply for Sanders County Fair manager

Five people from Sanders County - four women and one man - applied for the Sanders County Fairgrounds manager position, said Rich Wallace, the county's director for Human Resources.

Wallace and the members of the fair commission planned to interview the candidates this week, followed by a special meeting to discuss the candidates and select one. Wallace said the candidates' names could not be released at this time. The board decided to hold off on hiring an administrative assistant or maintenance person until after a manager is hired.

Just over 20 people, including Commissioners Johnny Holland and Dan Rowan, attended the hour-long meeting at the fairgrounds pavilion last Wednesday evening. Members of the fair commission have been taking up most of the duties of the manager since Melissa Cady resigned at the end of September. Randy Woods, the fair board chairman, said board member Kim McMahon has taken up the bulk of the slack of the manager duties.

Plains resident Teresa Garrison peppered the board with several questions on the fair's operations, including the carnival, which she had addressed at past meetings. With regards to a survey that board member Kim McMahon did the previous year, Garrison felt that no one had listened to the complaints, based on the return of this year's carnival. Board member Ted Forkum said that fair officials had met with Sherry McKay, owner of Paradise Amusements of Post Falls, Idaho, in response to complaints in an effort to make things work better this year.

"We only have so many options for carnivals that are going to come this far north to put on a carnival," said Forkum. Garrison said that in the past that after Missoula had its carnival, half would go to Plains and half to Hamilton and suggested that they look into that possibility. Presently, however, Woods said there is no carnival scheduled, although a generic carnival contract, as well as several other contracts, have been sent to the county attorney for review.

Garrison had the floor for just over 18 minutes with questions about contracts for the carnival, the derby and vendors, board members traveling to the rodeo convention, and the contract for the Hot Springs emergency medical services, which she claimed might be a conflict of interest because Woods is chief of the Hot Springs Fire Department. Woods said that he's not their direct supervisor and that contracts are voted by the board and approved by the county.

She didn't think the county should pay for members' trips to the PRCA Convention in Las Vegas, but Woods said it's no different than any other county sponsored convention. Forkum, who went last year, said it's a week of meetings on better ways to run the rodeo and find sponsorships for the Sanders County Fair rodeo.

"We were trying to learn more about the rodeo, trying to make our rodeo the best medium-sized rodeo in the PRCA rural. That was all in the best intentions to make it the best rodeo around for a medium-sized rodeo. That was the goal," said Forkum. Board member Brian Crain questioned the benefits of paying for people to attend the convention or the Montana Circuits Finals rodeo competition, which takes place in Great Falls in January. Crain motioned to send two people to the PRCA convention and to the Montana Circuit Finals, but he would like the representative to report to the board the benefits of attending the events. It was seconded by board member Jim Newman and unanimously passed.

Garrison also brought up that there were open spots for vendors, but Woods said every spot was leased. He said some didn't show, but they still paid. She brought up that the concessions group had diminished because the fair charges 20%, but Woods said it's simply "bad business people." He said they could have figured in the added amount by raising their prices. Woods mentioned that Don Burrell, president of the Sanders County Concessions Group, had passed away. "He was one of those shining faces on the fairgrounds all the fair. Every time you turned around, there's Don doing something, helping somebody or doing something," he said.

"The only other thing I'd like to say is when you guys interview people for the fair manager, and you're probably going to do this, but I'll say it anyway, please consider someone that's community minded. We need to get back to having a decent fair," said Garrison. Crain said that he wants a manager who treats each aspect of the fair equal. "Truly a fair manager needs to want all parts to be important, whether they make money or not," he added.

The board also voted unanimously to reserve all the rooms at the Dew Duck Inn for next year's judges for 4-H and open class competition and rodeo officials.