Rodeo contract signed for Great Northern Fair

The community group that took over the rodeo at the Great Northern Fair will run the event again this summer.

Clint Solomon and Chad Murnin of the grassroots committee putting on the rodeo signed the contract at a meeting of the fair board's rodeo committee before the meeting of the full Hill County Fair Board Tuesday.

The group will put on a National Rodeo Association and Indian Rodeo Association rodeo on Thursday and Friday during the fair, July 21-22.

That event will be preceded by a junior rodeo Wednesday, July 20, put on by the high school rodeo club.

Clint Solomon asked the board about offering a special ticket to fairgoers, with one ticket getting the purchaser into all night events at the fair. He said that could increase attendance at all events.

Murnin agreed that it could help all of the night events.

"We'd just like to try to get the other crowd, " he said.

Board members said the Jaycees Demolition Derby would not be a good candidate to reduce prices on its tickets — the event sells out every year, and the proceeds to the Jaycees and the fair would drop if ticket prices are reduced.

Solomon said the reduced price for the group ticket could be made up in the other events without cutting the amount going to the derby. The rodeo could absorb some of the reduced cost for a group ticket.

Board member Lynn Dolphay suggested the rodeo group contact Bill Mangold, who puts on the truck pulls on Saturdays at the fair, to see if he would be interested in the idea.

"He's easy to work with, " she added.

Board member Bert Corcoran asked Solomon and Murnin if the entry fee to compete at the rodeo could be reduced. He said he heard some people saying the fee was too high, and that they would not pay it.

Solomon said the entry fee is set by the PRCA, and lowering the fee might not get the best results — the show needs to be kept to the best competitors, and kept short enough to be fun for the crowd, he said.

"You want to make it a good show, " he said. "Keep it moving fast with excitement all the time, or they get bored. "

Corcoran said the people he talked to after the 2010 rodeo did say they were satisfied with the event.

Solomon also asked if more could be done by the fair board to help with maintenance and improvements at the arena.

"You've got to be doing upkeep. You can't just make money and not put it back in, " he said, adding that the community rodeo group already has done work to improve the arena, and plans to do more if allowed.

That benefits all of the events that occur in the arena, he said.

"We're already fixing the place up, " Solomon said.

He said that also could lead to more events being at the rodeo and at the arena in general.

He added that the Great Northern Arena was declared the most improved arena in Montana last year for the work already done on the facility.

Dolphay said the money that comes from the fair goes to the county, including the fair board budget. That limits what the money the fair makes can be used for, and the board also has to deal with other expenses.

"We can't use it for just anything, " she said.

Hill County Commissioner Jeff LaVoi said a goal of the county is to balance out all of the income and expenses at the fair.

"What we really need to shoot for … is having the fair pay its own way, " he said.