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Washington Evening Journal
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Washington, IA 52353
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Months of work provide quality week of fair
WASHINGTON — As the calendar crawls toward mid-July, Washington residents may notice an ever-growing stream of volunteers traveling to and from the fairgrounds, starting with occasional work days in May and inevitably reaching a small crowd of helping hands every night by the week before the fair.
Washington County Fair Board President Kurt Dallmeyer said preparation for the grounds was an all-seasons commitment, even if the main event is only once a year.
“We're going to be starting another project as soon as the fair’s over, not only revamping the track, we have some pavilions we’re looking to do at our fairgrounds,” he said. “It looks like there’s crunchtime, but there’s almost always something going on at the fair, year-round.”
The effort reflects constant attention to improvements and updates for the long-standing location of the Washington County Fair, according to Dallmeyer.
He said it was important to maintain the event’s status as an integral part of the community. It seems to work: livestock project participation is back up this year, according to preregistration numbers, and several shows on the schedule are brand-new to Washington County.
“We have tried to always improve, whether it’s adding new things to the fair that people have never seen before, or whether it’s updating a building that was built several years ago,” Dallmeyer said. “We just have always been pushing forward.
“We feel that this is something very important to the youth in Washington County. It ties together not only the agriculture side of the fair, but it seems to bring the city and the farm kids together. It brings the whole community together.”
This year, some of the biggest projects include a re-roofed sheep barn, a brand-new hog washing rack, refurbished bleachers and light poles, and a fresh new paint job for the old schoolhouse.
Those items join an even lengthier agenda of routine summer work like spraying the grounds for bugs, testing all equipment, dust control measures, and every conceivable form of cleaning and maintenance under the sun. This year, Dallmeyer’s copy of the checklist spans around 15 pages.
Perhaps even more impressive than the quantity of work: all of it is done by volunteers.
Some are fair board members or their families, others come from local groups like the Rotary Club while a handful simply show up and work without affiliation. Still more come from area businesses, some of which offer to pay employees for a shift spent at the fairgrounds.
In the week before the fair, Dallmeyer said the board would put to work anyone who shows up to the grounds, on any night of the week.
“Luckily, our community realizes that the county fair is really, very special,” Dallmeyer said. “The fair board would love to thank all the volunteers that help make the Washington County Fair one of the best fairs in the state.”
Comments: Kalen.McCain@southeastiowaunion.com
