Fair board takes no action on Indian Relay request for $10,000

Members of the Great Northern Fair Board said Monday they do not support a request of the organizers from an Indian Relay to advance $10,000 to the event before it would be held at this year’s Great Northern Fair.

The board also discussed various other items, such as the caboose at the fairgrounds, the fairground manager position and a request from the H. Earl Clack Memorial Museum Board o store equipment on the fairgrounds.

The board also re-elected Tyler Smith as chair and Chelby Gooch as vice chair.

At the meeting, Gooch also presented a plaque to Linda Ferguson, who retired last year after serving 25 years as fair board secretary, recognizing her work and commitment over the years to the Great Northern Fair.

Tyler said the board has a single applicant for the manager position, but he did not name the applicant. The board agreed to set an interview with the applicant.

Gooch said they will hold off on the secretary position until a manager is hired.

Smith said that last week he and board member Ron Konesky met with the organizers of the Indian Relay, and the organizers requested the fair board advance $10,000 to the relay organizers. Smith said they did not clearly specify what this money would be used for, but he assumes it would be capital and used to pay for the costs of setting up the event.

“My personal opinion is, I am not in favor of it,” Smith said.

He added that it would be unfair to provide an advance for one event but not others.

Board member Bobbie Dolphay said she agrees that the board should not do this, adding that if the board approved this, other organizers would request similar payments.

Smith said the Indian Relay was one of the more profitable events last year and he would want them to return. He added that the fair is just beginning to get its fiscal footing again and he will discuss the request with the relay organizers next week.

Konesky said too many undetermined factors are involved with events for the fair, such as attendance and weather conditions, and the board has no assurance that the investment would be paid back.

Smith added that the fair board, at this time, is not interested in the events promotion business and should concentrate on keeping the fairgrounds in operation.

“We’ll give these guys one last shot to put something together,” he said. “That is, I like (the event organizers) where they all pay the same and it’s all fair between them.”

Gooch said that they cannot show favoritism to any single event.

She added that the relay is one of the last events that have not submitted their contract. Most of the event organizers plan to submitting them later this week.

She said some events have already set times and dates to be at the fairgrounds, such as a circus, antique show and the Rod Run events. The circus is planning on coming to Havre Thursday, April 25, for one day, setting approximate times for shows at 4 p.m. and 7 p.m. so kids can attend after school.

The antique show is set from May 31 through June 2, followed by the Rod Run which will be from June 7 through June 9.

Board member Ray Kallenberger said more events are set for this year than last year.

Smith said he received a letter from H. Earl Clack Museum Board Chair Lela Patera, informing him that the caboose at the fairgrounds in not the fair board’s but the property of the museum.

He said that because it is not the fair board’s they cannot hold any events regarding the caboose.

Gooch said she had spoken to a museum employee who told her the caboose was property of the fair board.

Patera said this morning that, to her knowledge, the caboose is owned by the museum board. She said they have not done any maintenance on the caboose. It is simply stored and displayed at the fairgrounds, has not been used in for years and is not open to the public.

The museum board has two buildings at the fairgrounds, the Faber School House and the homedstead shack which it does maintain, she said, although the board does not perform any maintenance on the antique farm equipment.

Smith said during Tuesday’s meeting that, until ownership of the caboose is determined, all actions involving the caboose will be tabled. The board removed the caboose from old business.

He added that he would still like to do something with the caboose in the future and will either send a letter back or attend a museum board meeting and state the fair board’s case.

The caboose needs to be sandblasted, primed and painted, Smith said, in addition to some other maintenance.

“It’s fine if it’s your caboose but take care of it,” Smith said.

He said the museum board also requested to store antique farm equipment on the fairgrounds.

Patera said this morning that the museum board is requesting to store equipment there. She added that once the museum is moved to the former Griggs building some of the equipment may be moved to the new location.

Smith said Monday that the museum board is just dumping it there, he said, and the fair board would have to mow around the equipment and pick up any trash that would accumulate there.

Gooch said the museum board’s other equipment is already “clustered” at the fairgrounds. It’s fine if the museum board wants to put items up there, she said, but it needs to put forth some effort to keep the area clean and tidy and keep their stuff organized.

Kallenberger agreed.

“If you’re going to show them off, fix them up,” he said.

Smith said he has no new developments to report about the 4-H Chuckwagon sidewalk or from Hill County Commissioner Mark Peterson on the water line issue discussed at last month’s meeting.

The fair board also agreed to further investigate the possibility of changing a few of the board’s by-laws in order in create a treasurer position within the board.