Rained out events at the start of this year’s Jennings County Fair preceded record crowds the last few days. In the end, the up and down week resulted in the fair breaking even financially, the fair board president said.
The fair, which ran June 11-16, experienced plenty of rain, and the threat of tornadoes on the nights of June 12 and 14 caused a total shutdown of vendors and rides.
“At one point, we had to evacuate around 3,000 people from the fairgrounds to across the street at Sand Creek Elementary School. It had rained so hard the streets were flooded and kids and the elderly had to be carried but everyone pitched in and we got everyone to safety,” fair board president Randy Shepherd said.
The last three days of the record crowds created more challenges for fair board members.
“We had board members doing everything from cleaning restrooms to delivering toilet paper. They all worked hard,” Shepherd said.
New additions to the fair schedule included more live music events, a barn dance and a large fireworks show.
“Overall, this year’s fair turned out well in spite of what Mother Nature and a few other things threw at us. We said we would be happy if we broke even, and, so far, it looks like we will,” Shepherd said.
The fair board president said breaking even despite the challenges was a good accomplishment also considering that many of the board members were new.
As of January, the board had only eight of a possible 12 members, only two had a year’s experience and the rest were new to the business of planning a fair, Shepherd said.
Having fresh perspectives from new board members was a good thing, Shepherd said, but the board was unable to implement all suggestions.
He said recruiting four more board members is a priority, as is incorporating more new ideas at next year’s fair based on suggestions from the community.
Shepherd encouraged community residents to attend a fair board meeting and share ideas and suggestions.
“We want to work closely with 4-H, the (Purdue) Extension (office) and other agencies to hear what they want and need. And, we want to hear what people who attend the fairs want,” Shepherd said.
