By Michael Heins
The Great Northern Fair Board Tuesday reviewed its hiring practices and parking problems for the upcoming fair at its monthly meeting.
Fair Manager Mike Spencer said the hiring process starts with the county commissioners who pass the job openings to the Havre Job Service. The fair board members screen the applicants, he said.
People hired as 10-day temps will not have to go through a screening process, but anyone hired for the 90 day seasonal help will have to go through a screening process, Spencer said.
"The interviews will be possibly be the last week of April or the beginning of May," he said. "We are looking to hire four seasonal workers, two in June and two in July. We have a lot of work to do with all of this road stuff."
The board picked the winner for the fair theme 2000. The winner was Kayce Flathers, a fourth-grader at St. Jude. Her prize is general admission tickets and a carnival pass for all day rides at the fair. Her theme was WWW.GREATNORTHERNFAIR.COM. She is the daughter of Gary and Cindy Flathers.
The board member discussed the parking situation for the fair. In the past people parked at Holiday Village and crossed the highway to get to the fairgrounds. A fence put up by the Montana Department of Transportation, on the fair side, will prevent people from crossing over from the mall.
Board Member Terry Stevenson proposed that the board ask Havre Ford to park their vehicles at Holiday Village for the Brawl at the Mall event and allow fair goers to use the Ford parking lot. The Ford lot is on the same side as the fair grounds so people will not have to cross the highway.
"It's a safety issue," Stevenson said.
April 15 will be the annual Micro Brew Fair from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. This is a foundation drive to raise money for the fairground's office remodeling.
"The cost will be $20 per person and along with the price you will get a Micro brew mug and catered food," Spencer said. "It will be three hours of unlimited micro brew taste testing. Brew Masters will be there to display there wares, along with canned and bottled micro brews. The date for the purchase of tickets, for the Micro Brew fair, will be announced on a later date."
The free stage entertainment for this year's fair will be The Calhoun Family and the Balloon Lady, Spencer said. Local talent is unconfirmed at this time.
Upcoming events will be:
Manager's meeting, March 24-26;
Bull-A-Rama, March 24-25;
Cold storage removal, April;
Foundation meeting, April 11;
Micro brew fair, April 15;
College rodeo, April 15-16;
H.S. rodeo, April 29-30;
Blood draw, May 8.
