The manager of the Great Northern Fairgrounds said this week that most everything is in place for the fair to start on time Wednesday, July 20.

Repairs to a roof on one of the buildings and to the roads at the grounds are in the works, Manager Tim Solomon said.

He said Hill County commissioners approved a contract to repair the roof on the horse barn.

The contractor is "supposed to have it done by the fair, ” Solomon said.

Solomon said that money that had been budgeted for the project last year was rolled over because the contractor who had agreed to do the project in 2010 had not completed it.

Solomon said enough also was left in last year’s budget to set an agreement to repair damage to the roads and parking lot at the grounds. He said the fair board will use $6,000 to buy gravel and fabric and pay overtime for the county Road and Bridge Department to work on the roads.

At Solomon’s suggestion, the board agreed to pursue setting a single price for the rodeo.

Last year, the group that took over setting up and operating the rodeo had set an advance sale price of $8 and a price of $12 at the gate. Previously, one price of $10 was charged.

Solomon and his administrator, Linda Ferguson, said having advance ticket prices and at-the-gate prices led to problems.

“We had some confusion last year, ” Solomon said.

He said part of the problem was knowing when the advance ticket $8 price ended and the gate price, $12, started, as well as tracking which tickets were sold by downtown merchants at which price.

The board agreed that it would be better to keep the $10 price that had been charged previously for the rodeo. Solomon said he would check with the community rodeo group that puts on the event to make certain its members had no problem with that before getting the tickets printed.

He said the free stage and carnival are set for this year’s fair, the food booths are just about ready and the commercial building is nearly set.

“We’re getting quite a few outside exhibits too, ” he added.

Ferguson said Havre Middle School has submitted 165 entries for judging in the school exhibits, and some seven or eight other teachers also submitted exhibits.

Board member Alma Seidel said the 4-H activities are pretty well set, including a new addition — a pig washer.

She said the washer will be set up by the barn. The 4-H’ers will open the door, the pig walks in, the 4-H’ers open it up, the pig walks out and the animal is walked back to its pen.

Solomon and Ferguson also said there have been quite a few visits to the new website set up for the fair, including people downloading the premium book available in PDF format from the site.

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Online: Great Northern Fair.