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Fair board welcomes new member

Manager says planning for 2014 Great Northern Fair continues

The Great Northern Fair Board welcomed a new member at its monthly meeting Tuesday.

Scott Doney attended his first meeting as a board member, taking the place of Andy Owens.

Owens resigned last fall, saying work requirements would prevent him from attending meetings.

Fairgrounds Manager Tim Solomon told the board that planning for the 2014 Great Northern Fair is proceeding, with little new news.

“Things are moving forward,” he said.

Board member Gus Sharp, the board’s contact with the association putting on the rodeo for the fair, said that group is moving forward setting up the event for 2014.

“I know they’re having meetings and starting to gear up for it,” he said.

Solomon said a company offering pony rides contacted him with an offer to work at the fair. The company would pay the board a flat fee, then charge for the rides.

Board Vice Chair Alma Seidel, chairing for Bert Corcoran, who could not attend the meeting, said pony rides are something the fair hasn’t seen for some time.

“I think it would go over good,” Solomon said.

The board approved bringing that attraction to the 2014 fair.

Hill County 4-H representative Karla Vaughn said her group also is researching bringing a concert to follow the pig wrestling, scheduled for Wednesday night during the fair.

Scott Chagnon of 4-H said the group thought that, as the pig wrestling — which was held at the Great Northern Fair for the first year in 2013 — was rather short, members of the county 4-H organization thought they could hold a concert afterward.

Solomon said he saw no reason a concert could not be held, but he warned that those events have not gone over well as grandstand events at the fair in recent years. He said a band out of Great Falls contacted him about playing at the fair, and he is recommending they contact Havre Youth Baseball Association about playing at the beer gardens the association operates as a fundraiser every year.

Seidel said the board is considering increasing advertising for the pig wrestling, which has become a mainstay at the Blaine County fair. That could build the number of competitors at the event, she said.

The 4-H representatives said the group also is moving forward with replacing the Chuckwagon Building Hill County 4-H owns and operates at the fairgrounds, with plans in place to demolish the existing building after this year’s fair.

Board member Gus Sharp suggested the board review its bylaws and operating procedures to see if they need to be updated.

Solomon said he would provide copies of those documents to the board members for review.

 

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