A normal fair

FAIRFIELD - Jefferson County Fair Board President Mike Filson said he's excited at the prospect of holding a normal county fair this year, after last year's was severely limited due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Filson said several of the grandstand acts planned for this year's fair, which will be the week of June 21-27, are holdovers from the 2020 schedule grandstand events that had to be scrapped. Last year, the fair board was able to hold a few events after the fair, such as a dirt drag race, but even that was cut short due to bad weather.

'The pandemic cost us a pretty sizable amount,” Filson said.

Filson said the fair board got a helping hand from the Greater Jefferson County Foundation and Iowa Economic Development, both of which gave grants to the board to help offset its lost income.

'We had a tough year with no income at all,” Filson said. 'The grant money helped out with that. So far, we've survived, but it's not been easy.”

This year's Greater Jefferson County Fair will feature grandstand entertainment from Wednesday, June 23, to Sunday, June 27. Acts include mutton busting, dirt drags, quad races, a truck and tractor pull, a tractor and car show and crash for clunkers, which Filson described as like a demolition derby race.

Last year, the fair board planned to hold a corn hole tournament (bean bags) for the first time, but that was canceled. It is on the schedule for Saturday, June 26.

Filson said there are a few things yet to be decided. For instance, the Monday after the fair usually includes an auction where the livestock are sold. Filson said the organizers haven't decided whether that auction will be in the morning or evening and what it will include. He said a schedule of the 4-H and FFA events will be released soon, too.

The fair board will hold a parade on Tuesday, June 22. That is also the day of the horse show. The carnival will be back, too, open from Wednesday of that week through Sunday.

Filson said he's hoping there will be just as many commercial vendors setting up booths as in past years, though some he's talked to are hesitant about congregating inside.