Institute for Entrepreneurship Entrepreneurial Education Partner
Union County Fair - Part 2
Next we visited the Fair Office where Chris Hodges, Union County Fair Board Treasurer shared some of the “business” side of the fair. From insurance costs to electric bills to payroll, the fair has bills to pay in order to run. They make some money with entry fees, a share of the carnival rides and other fees. There is a lot of behind the scenes work requiring a great deal of organization and record keeping. All of the different animals and other exhibits have to be registered, grand stand events also require registrations and sometimes entry fees and awards. It takes a village to keep things running and the Fair Board has the main responsibility to do that.
Our third stop of the day was the livestock area. We visited the barns and looked at the cattle, sheep and hogs. We were fortunate this year to visit on a day when 4-H members were showing their animals so we got to watch a couple of rounds of the hogs. It was really interesting to see them strut their stuff and hear the feedback from the judges.
We also got to visit with Carl Dillow who has shown his own sheep as a kid, has raised his own sheep for over 40 years, has watch his children raise and show them and is now sharing the experience with his grandchildren! The love and pride he has for raising livestock and participating in these types of events was clearly evident and we loved that he shared one of his passions with us!
If you haven’t visited the Union County Fair, don’t miss your chance! It really is fun for the whole family and such a wonderful tradition in our community! Thank you to Ron Garner and the Shriners, Chris Hodges and the Fair Board and to Carl Dillow for sharing so many different parts of the fair! We had a great time and will see you again, next year!!!
