‘Full steam ahead’ for Washington County Fair

As was the case with county fairs across the state, 2020 was a rough year for the Washington County Fair.

Fair Board President John Wagner and Vice President Kurt Dallmeyer told the Washington County Board of Supervisors Tuesday that, despite a rough 2020, plans are moving ahead for 2021.

'Our plans currently are for a full fair in 2021,” Dallmeyer said. 'We're fortunate to get back most of the entertainment that was scheduled for last year.”

Last week, the Fair Board announced that the fair will run from July 18-23, and will include many of the popular events such as a tractor pull, rodeo, demolition derby and motocross races.

'We're bringing back the Sept. 11 memorial, too,” Dallmeyer said.

There will be additions to this year's fair, including an escape room and ax throwing.

'We're moving full steam ahead that we'll have a full fair this year,” Dallmeyer said.

Wagner said that, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the 2020 fair had to be scaled back.

'We only had an exhibitor fair, not a full fair,” Wagner said. 'We tried to make it as safe as possible.”

He reported that there were 1,372 entries in the 2020 fair, down 38 percent from 2019.

'We're very pleased with the number of livestock programs at our exhibitor fair,” Wagner said.

He added that entries for static projects were down because the 2020 Iowa State Fair did not include static projects.

'(Exhibitors) really had nowhere to advance to,” he said.

One of the bright spots of the past year has been the strong participation in county 4-H programs.

'Our 4-H is still in the top 10 enrollment in the state,” Wagner said, adding that there are about 17 clubs in the county.

Dallmeyer said that there are 381 members in county 4-H clubs, while the state average per county is 240.

Dallmeyer also noted that the new cattle barn at the fairgrounds was completed in 2020.

Looking ahead, he said there are plans in the works to repair the roof and poles in the sheep barn and update the electrical in the old hog barn.

'That's one of the oldest buildings at the fair,” Dallmeyer said.

Wager requested that funding from the county remain at last year's level of $41,000 - $12,000 for 4-H and $24,000 for the fairgrounds.