Every once in a while you hit on an idea that's simple, useful and fun. Welcome to Fair U. We had to postpone it once, and even though the weather wasn't perfect this past weekend, we forged ahead. Two of our instructors couldn't make it, but that didn't make a bit of difference. We had about 30 people show up and take classes in soap making, scarecrow making, crochet and planting in Plumas County. The vibe was wonderful and everyone who attended looked motivated and informed.

The feeling was just what you expect when a small community comes together; no complaining, quick to laugh, helping each other and satisfaction in participation. It was a darn near perfect day. We will do it again, with even more classes. We hope everyone who attended will enter something in this year's Fair. After all, that was the purpose of Fair U.

Thank you to all the instructors, participants, and to our generous benefactor who shall remain nameless, but has our deepest gratitude. Go Fair U!

When you think of special fair events, what comes to mind? Frog jumping? Ugly Dog Contest? Ugly Baby Contest? (No one has done that one yet, but I would love to see it!) We currently have several kooky ideas on the burner to help make us stand apart (which means make more money to be self sufficient). But one is a "go". Snowmobile Drag racing will make its debut at the Plumas Sierra County Fairgrounds on July 23. That's right, you can watch people drag race their snowmobiles on the grass in the middle of summer. Lots of camping, food, beer, hot machines and maybe even a bikini contest. Keith Barnett and Kenny Chance are working their ends off on this event, which is primarily a fundraiser for the fair and off road access for snowmobile enthusiasts. Check out www.sierraaccess.com to see what that is all about. It sounds like there are already hundreds of competitors ready to show, so put this on your calendar. Look for more information here or in the newspaper.

We've obviously struck a educational gold mine. People are clamoring for space in Fair U. Maybe it's the free t-shirt when you pre-register, or maybe it's the lure of learning how to make your own soap, but we've had an impressive response to this effort to encourage people to enter things into the fair. Mother Nature wants us to put off the event until March 26. Our Master Food Preserver didn't think he would make it up. So, that's fine. Let's wait for better weather and maybe more people can make it now.

Please consider writing your legislator about opposing the 100% funding cut to fairs in California. There are links to their addresses on the home page.

I made it to Sacramento twice last week to appear before the budget sub-committees for the State Assembly and Senate. Over half the fairs in California were in attendance and spoke to why fairs are important to our state. The politicians were very sympathetic and obviously are fair supporters. However, they all talked about how this budget was going to hurt, and fairs might be injured. Our goal as an industry was to have the sub-committees hold the issue of cutting our funds open for further discussion. They agreed to do so and we are working on ways to keep fairs funded. Fairs have a lot of friends in the legislature, we hope they stick with us.

We got word that the 59th Army Band stationed in Sacramento will be performing at our fair this year! They are the band that plays for any of the Governor's offical events. They have been here before and were very well received. Planning goes on...

Fairs generate revenue. The Plumas Sierra County Fair creates the equivalent of 79 jobs by the Fair itself, it's support businesses and attendees. The Fair and the events that occur throughout the year generate an estimated $95,500 in additional business taxes. In 2009, our fairgrounds was an economic engine that generated around $6,450,000 in spending activity. All this came from the California Department of Food & Agriculture, which is facing budget cuts of 30%, including a 100% elimination of funding for California Fairs. That report says that California Fairs generate upwards of $2.5 BILLION in economic activity. The State gets that sort of return from $32 million. That's right. Only $32 million creates thousands of jobs, millions in tax revenue and billions in spending. It's funny how quickly people forget what fairs have done.

For those that remember the Great Depression, they may also remember the proof that fairs are the "original" stimulus program. During the worst economic time in our history, North American fairs grew from under 300, to more than 3,000. California had nine official fairs going into the Great Depression and had 54 by the beginning of World War II. The Plumas Sierra County Fair was one of those.

Look, we all know something has to be done to right our financial ship. Fairs know they have to help. If you could take some time and write your representative in Sacramento, tell them how important the Fair is to Plumas and Sierra Counties, we would appreciate it.

January, 2011. For those of you that think these are quiet times on the fairgrounds.... oh boy! We started the week with MAJOR power issues. Aging power lines on the fairgrounds gave out, caught on fire in a ground vault and melted big wires together. All I know is it involves high voltage lines and will be expensive to fix. Nothing we could have done about it, and we can't say it's lousy timing, because ANYTIME would be lousy for this.

Then we got the new Governor's budget proposal. It has lots of stuff in it, but what jumped out at us was....no funding for California Fairs. To us, that's around $200,000 a year. We don't know if his proposal will go through, and if it does, we don't know what we will do. Cross your fingers and call your congressperson. What we have going for us is our excellent return on investment. Throughout the State, fairs return over $1 billion in economic activity for only $32,000,000. It seems like a no-brainer, but we shall see. I know the Plumas Sierra County Fair generates over $6.5 million in wages, taxes, local spending and corn dogs. That's a lot of action for $200,000 in State money.

I don't know what will happen, but please know that Kathy, Oran, Willo and myself love this Fair and will do anything we can to make it something our community can be proud of. Thanks for your support!

I was telling someone about some of the things we have accomplished at the Fair the other day. They said they hadn't heard any of those things and that I should let the community know about them. Yeah, I guess we should, so here goes...
Last year, the Plumas Sierra County Fair was rated by the State of California as a "C" fair, which is the lowest grade a fair can receive. In addition to that, our fair was considered a "Priority Fair" by the State. At the time, there were 21 fairs out of 78 in California with that designation. It means that a fair is unstable in management and finances. The major result of these designations was the State holding back money from the Plumas Sierra County Fair. Well, good news.

Our fair now holds a grade of "B". Why not an "A"? Well, you can't jump two letter grades in a year. We expect to be upgraded by next year. The State has one less fair on their priority list, since they've removed us from that list. The result was a flood of grant monies for improvements and operations. How did we do that? For starters, the staff of Kathy Tedford, Oran Morrison and Willo Vieira made a committment to excel at their jobs. Kathy and I jumped headfirst into getting all our reports into the State. Some were over a year behind. We worked closely with the Department of Fairs and Expositions in an effort to show we cared and were dedicated to providing them with the information they required. Oran's involvement with the maintenance community around the State helped speed along our grant expenditures on things like our new PA system, Floriculture Building Roof, Grandstand rehab and much more. Oran is a leader throughout the State and is an instructor at Maintenance Mania, a twice yearly meeting of maintenance staffs from fairs statewide.

It doesn't stop there, but this blog does because I have to get back to work. We want you all to know we won't stop until the Plumas Sierra County Fair is considered one of the top fairs in the State of California. Thanks for your support!

Just because the snow is on the ground and the turkey is in the oven, don't think the Fair staff is sitting around eating popcorn. Especially maintenance, (that means Oran) is out there trying to get things winterized, cut down broken limbs, set up for Christmas parties and get all the boats and motor homes covered for the winter. Kathy is already planning the Gymkhana series and the Classic Horse show. Willo is planning all the awards for next year's Fair. (Look for a letter asking for help on that one). And I'm working on a slew of upcoming events; from a film festival to an Over The Line tournament. There's talk of a rib and/or chili cook-off at next year's County Picnic, co-sponsored by the Quincy Chamber of Commerce. Now's the time to get it all planned, because before you know it, the snow is gone and we're back to around the clock action. Please be careful this holiday season, and have a Happy Thanksgiving!

We just had a meeting to discuss plans, wishlists and ideas for next year's Fair. Sorry if you couldn't make it, but it's not too late to share your ideas. You can always post them on this blog, e-mail them to us or pick up the good old phone and tell me personally. We talked about what kind of events to have in the grandstands, where we should put the live music and trying to get the schools involved by exhibiting science fair displays from this year. The hay maze will likely be back, and look for the first ever Redneck Waterpark! Share your ideas. Think about sharing your time. Most great ideas need someone to pull them off. If you have the time in August to coordinate an activity, it only makes for a better Fair.

There will be an exhibit guide meeting on November 6 in the Mineral Building. It starts at 9am. We mainly cover what's in the exhibit guide; things like times, premiums, awards and new divisions. We also talk a little about new ideas, so if you missed this last meeting, try to make the November 6 one.