Huron County Fair finishes with a bang

NORWALK — Another Huron County Fair in the books, and it was another successful run. "We had a good week all the way around," Huron County Fair Board President Bob Morgan said. "The Monday and Tuesday rain didn't hurt much at all. The crowd Wednesday night for the rodeo was phenomenal. "Thursday really hurt us," he added. "The forecast was for storms and high winds and it ended up not being much — and we did not get the rain insurance any day." However, picturesque weather restored order on Friday and Saturday for fair officials. "It brought us right back to where we were last year," Morgan said. Ticket prices went from $8 to $10 this year, which kicked up the final numbers, Morgan said. "We got more but we raised the gate ... apples to apples it was $2,000 under last year," he said. "We did make more money. We hated to make it $10. "You don't realize charging $8 was a nightmare making change. All of the dollar bills you had to deal with. This made it a whole lot easier. Overall, it was right on par to last year." Morgan said all one had to do was look around at all of the red shirts (board members) who worked all week. "Thank all the people who helped us," he said. "Everybody stepped up and made it work." The only rough spots came during the tough truck event Thursday night, Morgan said. "There were several mishaps where people got injured," he said. "The big jump, for some reason, they were really sailing over that. We ended up closing that down. "We pay for whoever jumps the farthest and we had to shut that done. We don't want people getting hurt." The big event every year is the demolition derby, held every Saturday night to close out the week. As usual, the grandstands were packed for the event, including a Power Wheels event for the youngsters. "The kids have a ball with that," Morgan said. "They get right into it." The large livestock sale was held Saturday morning. "The sale went well," Morgan said. "There are a lot of buyers groups around. They put the money together ... get 30 people together with 200 bucks and you can do something. About every town has a buyers group. "It is good for everybody," he added. "They try to help the kids out. They will start those steer projects in October and November. They have to have them tagged early. The kids spend a lot of time on those projects. "Some people have their kids in sports year-round, and some have fair animals ... it is all the same, a lot of work." When will Morgan start thinking about the 2024 fair? "Last week," he said with a laugh. "Our next meeting will be the first of September and we will use that of what went right and what went wrong. ... the good, the bad and the ugly, is what I like to call it. "It officially kicks off the first of October. By December and January, you have all the major stuff set up for next year." There will not be alcohol at the fair next year? "The amendment failed," Morgan said. "I wasn't sure how that was going to work. Everybody sells beer. It went to a vote of the membership and the membership turned it down." There was talk of selling beer this year, but as it turned out, it was against the constitution of the fair board. It was voted on by members of the society — people who buy a membership ticket for the fair. Being a society member gives you the ability to exhibit, vote and it gives you admission to the fair. There are about 450 society members and 109 voted. "It was like a 60-40 vote against it," Morgan said. "It has to be in our constitution." Again, Morgan said there are many people to thank. "All the board members, volunteers, sponsors, everybody. You hate to name them because you will forget somebody," Morgan said. "The 4-H advisers and the Junior Fair Board advertisers. "We pick up the trash at night. We do everything to keep it going. It takes everybody to do it and we appreciate everybody who helps out." Fair results Here is a link to the final results of the 2023 Huron County Junior Fair. https://huroncounty.fairentry. com/Fair/Results/18862