Fair Finances
July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.
Mild weather during the Kosciusko County fair was a boon to attendance, which helped the financially strapped fair board, members said this week.
The last three nights of the fair, including the Demolition Derby and the Semi-Truck Pull, broke all attendance records, said Becky Thomas, fair board secretary.
"The fair did very well this year. It didn't get us completely out of debt" but it did help out, Thomas said.
"It was good enough for us to put several thousand on our line of credit," Thomas said. She also said the board raised enough money from the fair to work toward fairgrounds improvements.
Besides the weather, which Thomas called this year's biggest advantage, corporate sponsorship at the fair also was beneficial.
"It really helped out," Thomas said.
For anywhere from $100 to $1,000, a company could sponsor a day or an event at the fair. In return, the company's name was featured prominently around the fairgrounds and on the program.
Approximately 30,000 people attended the fair this year, said Bob Ferguson, fair board treasurer, compared to about 20,000 last year because of extremely hot weather. Ferguson said he could not provide exact figures on how much the fair made since all bills were not in yet.
Fair board member Kim Leake said this year's success doesn't mean the fair board is out of financial difficulty yet.
"If we had three years at this rate, we could see light at the end of the tunnel," he said. "If we have a bad year next year, we're back to square one."
Last year's heat resulted in reduced attendance and an overloading of the fairgrounds' antiquated electrical system. Besides the electrical system, the fair board is looking at repairs to several buildings, including a new roof for the fair office building.
The fair board earlier this year asked the county council and commissioners for financial help. The board depends on the county fair for the bulk of its annual fund raising, and last year's fair left the board at a deficit.
The commissioners recommended in February that the council appropriate $110,000 toward the fair board's $400,000 debt. The council in March approved $50,000 to keep the fairgrounds solvent until the county fair. [[In-content Ad]]
Mild weather during the Kosciusko County fair was a boon to attendance, which helped the financially strapped fair board, members said this week.
The last three nights of the fair, including the Demolition Derby and the Semi-Truck Pull, broke all attendance records, said Becky Thomas, fair board secretary.
"The fair did very well this year. It didn't get us completely out of debt" but it did help out, Thomas said.
"It was good enough for us to put several thousand on our line of credit," Thomas said. She also said the board raised enough money from the fair to work toward fairgrounds improvements.
Besides the weather, which Thomas called this year's biggest advantage, corporate sponsorship at the fair also was beneficial.
"It really helped out," Thomas said.
For anywhere from $100 to $1,000, a company could sponsor a day or an event at the fair. In return, the company's name was featured prominently around the fairgrounds and on the program.
Approximately 30,000 people attended the fair this year, said Bob Ferguson, fair board treasurer, compared to about 20,000 last year because of extremely hot weather. Ferguson said he could not provide exact figures on how much the fair made since all bills were not in yet.
Fair board member Kim Leake said this year's success doesn't mean the fair board is out of financial difficulty yet.
"If we had three years at this rate, we could see light at the end of the tunnel," he said. "If we have a bad year next year, we're back to square one."
Last year's heat resulted in reduced attendance and an overloading of the fairgrounds' antiquated electrical system. Besides the electrical system, the fair board is looking at repairs to several buildings, including a new roof for the fair office building.
The fair board earlier this year asked the county council and commissioners for financial help. The board depends on the county fair for the bulk of its annual fund raising, and last year's fair left the board at a deficit.
The commissioners recommended in February that the council appropriate $110,000 toward the fair board's $400,000 debt. The council in March approved $50,000 to keep the fairgrounds solvent until the county fair. [[In-content Ad]]