County fair baord recaps 2024 event

Numbers don't lie. The 2024 Sanders County Fair was a big financial success, fetching $454,278 and netting $145,368 after expenses.

Kristy Sheehan, the fair manager, provided the five fair commissioners and the dozen other community members at the monthly board meeting at the fairgrounds pavilion last Wednesday the annual "Fair Recap."

The three-page financial summary showed that the fair showed a profit in nearly every category, though there were activities, such as the carnival, the downtown parade and the open class competitions, that weren't designed as money-makers, but were there solely for the community to enjoy, said Sheehan, who was pleased that her first fair went so well. The carnival cost the county $1,582.40. The fair also gave out $2,650 in payouts and open class prize money. The parade cost was $850.

"From my standpoint, it went very well. There were a couple hiccups, but that's going to happen. Everything went well. We got lots of compliments on the carnival, the food booths, the commercial vendors, and 4-H was happy," said Randy Woods, chairman of the Sanders County Fair Commission.

Ticket sales for the rodeo on Thursday amounted to $15,335 with 1,510 people in attendance, just over 500 more from last year. On Friday, ticket sales were $45,072, with almost 1,700 spectators, almost 600 more than 2023. Saturday's rodeo had $70,305 in ticket sales with 2,598 fans, slightly less than last year. In all, the rodeo fetched a profit of $19,732.81 for the week and a rodeo purse of $49,500 for the competitors. Commissioner John Holland suggested presenting a plaque to the Powder River Rodeo next year for their 40 years of being at Sanders County.

The derby was once again a sellout, netting $52,975. Sheehan said they had some minor problems with derby ticketing, but Woods said they will fix the problem for next year. Sheehan reported there were some scam tickets out there, too. She said people need to be careful when buying the tickets elsewhere than the fairgrounds website.

The fair financial report noted that parking fees fetched $40,586.85 and the fair took in $55,861.70 in arena sponsors. The biggest profit came from the vendors in the amount of $81,254.34. The only event that lost money was the Levi Blom concert, which cost $7,000 and took in only $3,755.

"The fair was a success and the money is right where we thought it would be, but the biggest success of the fair is that the people had a good time and that's important," said Woods. Sheehan said they had over 1,500 open class entries this year, which included a lot of first time competitors and senior citizens. "Attendance wise, it was one of the best it's ever been. Grounds wise, it's the neatest and cleanest in years. Vendors said that Thursday was phenomenal and they had record sales for a Thursday. We want people to have a good time and I think we did that," said Woods. He and his board - Jolene Burke, Jim Newman, Ted Forkum, and Brian Crain - were on hand at the fairgrounds throughout the week.

"I think that the fair was a big success because mainly we pulled it off without any large problems. But, most importantly, we were able to give the community and surrounding areas a great fair with a clean and safe carnival and a large variety of different foods to eat," said Sheehan, who added that she received a "ton of positive feedback from a lot of people around the community" and hadn't heard many negative comments. She is planning to update some of the wiring in order to handle the number of food trucks that they had this year and wants to tweak the open class department so people know when to drop off their items. "I am also planning on moving some of the vendors so that they get noticed more," she said.

"We had a great year. The barns were full. The market sale was the best it's ever been," said Juli Thurston, the extension agent that heads the county's 4-H program. The 4-H kids and leaders operate the dining hall throughout the week, but Woods said that many people thought it was just for 4-H members.

"People think it's the 4-H dining hall and they think it's for 4-H only, so one of the thoughts I had is to change the name to something dining hall operated by the 4-H," said Woods. Thurston said they officially changed the name to the Sanders County Dining Hall and have signs around the grounds that it is open to the public, but they need to get the word out better in the future. Woods said they might need to have a catchy name. Holland suggested the "Four Clover Cafe" and keep the 4-H emblem up on the building.

Burke was pleased with the success of the demo derby and with the number of cars, but she was disappointed with the debris left in the arena, particularly with an equestrian event scheduled for Oct. 11-12. While getting the mutton bustin' sheep ready for transport the day after the fair, she found items that could be hazardous to a horse or rider.

"I pulled four things that were dangerous," said Burke. "The amount of debris was pretty concerning. We're basically going to have to come up with a strategy to work as a team with the demo derby to come up with a solution to clean, because the work that we just put into that arena this summer just pretty much was all for nought. We're going to have to start all over again," she added. Burke, Sheehan and several volunteers spent more than a week last May removing metal items and other debris from the main arena in preparation for horse competitions.

Woods said they walked through the arena after the derby was over, but it was difficult to see under the lights. Thompson Falls resident Rick Sanders, an avid derby driver who helped clean the arena in May, suggested that the derby organizers do a cleanup in the daylight the day after the fair. He also volunteered to again help sift through the arena for car debris. One of Woods' solutions was the purchase of a beach comber machine, but he's still researching the cost.

"From the equine side of the spectrum we want to work with the demo derby to come up with a solution for the cleanup," said Burke, who said it's going to be a work in progress every year.

The meeting was the last day for Rachel Largent, the fair's administrative assistant, who was hired last June. Sheehan said that Largent had a big part in the fair and they would be looking for a replacement in March. "I am hoping to get someone in to learn the programs before we start selling tickets and getting busy for the summer," said Sheehan.