Pessimism Prevails
T
f I
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minds about whether or not
we want to start one again.”
Three men with ex
perience in other fairs also
addressed the group. They
were: Wayne Kelley, Penn
State farm management
specialist; Lee, Henney,
administer of the Penn
sylvania State Fair Fund;
and Stanley Musselman,
agricultural loan officer for
Lancaster’s National Cen
tral Bank.
All three speakers
described the job of starting
a fair as a tong, hard job.
Kelley said it would take at
least five years for a fair to
go from an idea to a finished
reality.
Henney, whose office
distributes funds to most
fairs in the state, said any
new fair would get no
financial aid until the fourth
year of its existence. The
state has a three-year
probationary period before a
fair becomes eligible for
reimbursement of premium
money.
“Fairs are big business,”
Henney told the group. “But
I’m interested in agriculture
and agri-business. I’m not
interested in midways or big
name entertainment. They
may bring in money, but I
don’t care if you’have them
or not. ,
In response to questions
from the audience, Henney
said that the state would not
pay more than $33,600 to any
one fair in premium money.
The state-reimburses fairs
for half the total premiums,
but otherwise makes no
contributions except to the
state-subsidized Penn
sylvania Farm Show held
each January in Harrisburg.
Henney also said that all
premium money comes from
a percentage of bets placed
at harness racing tracks
throughout the Com
monwealth. '
r
o° e< oOo
uses .n
George Washington Carver found over 100 new commercial
uses for the sweet potato.
Last year, Henney’s office g®f because you’re not ac
disbursed some $1.5 million tually asking for a
to 105 Pennsylvania fairs. Of ) donation.”
that money, $45,600 came to' Representatives of four of
Lancaster County. The fbe community fairs
Ephrata Fair led with some represented expressed the
$10,500 in state ’premium feeling that they wouldn’t
money, followed by Solanco oppose a county fair as long
with-$9600, West Lampeter as it didn’t interfere with the
with $9OOO, Manheim with existence of their own
$B7OO and New Holland with organizations.
£7BOO. The exception was the
In response to another Manheim Community Fair,
question, Henney told the represented at the meeting
group that community fair by Mark Nestleroth, .who
funds would not be at all heads up the group. “We’re a
endangered if a county fair county of unique interest,”
were started. “We have a Nestleroth told the group,
limit on the amount of money “We’re the garden .spot of
that can go to one fair, ihe world. With the right
$33,600, but no limit on the kind of advertising and
amount that can go to a publicity, we could put on a
particujar county. You could show for our agriculture that
have aU five fairs you have would draw'tlie people who
plus a county fair and none of peed to know more about the
the community fairs would importance of farming.”
suffer.” Kcnnßutt, president of the
Wayne Kelley told the Solanco fair board,
group that there weren’t responded by saying that the
nearly enough people at the community fairs have been*
meeting to even begin getting excellent newspaper
working on a county fair. “It coverage, and addedthat he
takes a minimum of 250 fdt a lot of the participants
dedicated people to get a fair i* l iocai fairs wouldn’t bother
off the ground,” he said. going to a county fair.
The banker in the group, Oae °f fbe most vocal
Stanley Musselman, painted detractors of a county fair
a grim picture of the was Dr. Louis Williams, a
financial outlook. “I don’t New Holland dentist who
know what it would cost to heads up that town’s fair
get a fair started,” he said, committee. “I’m not op
“l’ve heard a million dollars, posed to a county fair,” he
I’ve heard two million and said, “but I hate to see us
even three million. To get work five years for
that kind of money you’d something, only to see it
need a definite plan, solid break down after the first
income projections and some year °f operation.”
pretty hefty backers.” Williams also said that he
One method Musselman feared a county fair would
suggested for raising funds have less participation than
was to sell $lO,OOO bonds is now the case with the five
which would be non-interest community fairs.
bearing, non-negotiable and
non-transferable. “In ef
fect,” he said, “you'd be
giving the people who bought
tiie bonds a piece of paper to
frame.' It’s like a donation,
but maybe a little easier to
/
——TT^^WT—TT
Nestleroth disagreed,
saying that with a county
fair there would be more
exhibits to show more farm
products. He added that he
felt a county fair would be in
the best interests of the
county’s farm community.
While there were many at
the meeting who doubted the
need and the workability of a
county fair, there seemed to
be little outright opposition.
There was general
agreement, though, that a
county fair, if it comes
about, should consist ot
Could a county agricultural fair be
held here? William McCoy, president
of the Lancaster Livestock Exchange,
thinks there's a good possibility it
educational agriculture and
home economics exhibits
and contests. Midways,
gambling, horse racing,
alcohol and side-shows all
were to be kept out of the
show, the group felt.
At the meeting’s close,
Max Smith told everybody to
think about a county fair
over the summer. In Sep
tember, he said, he’d send a
ballot to all the farm
organizations and fair
groups. The ballot would
seek opinions of the various
land, capital and
management requirements
for a fair. Smith said he’d
also be looking for a yes or no
vote in the balloting. “If we
get a 31 percent yes vote, I’m
going to drop the project,’’
he said. “For something like
this, we need at least a 75
percent favorable vote, or
there’s no use in going
ahead.”
After the. results of the
survey are tabulated, Smith
said, he’d call another
meeting sometime in Oc
tober.
Luicutn Tannlnr
could. It remains to be seen whether
or not His idea will meet with the
approval of other exchange members
and backers of a county fair.