Farewell to the fair

Big crowd, but few problems noted this year

From left, Troy Ludwig, Elisabeth Dunn and Sara Koenigsfeld help move shelves into storage Sunday after the Jefferson City Jaycees Cole County Fair wrapped up Saturday. Members of the Jefferson City 4-H Club helped with cleanup at the 4-H building on the fairgrounds.
From left, Troy Ludwig, Elisabeth Dunn and Sara Koenigsfeld help move shelves into storage Sunday after the Jefferson City Jaycees Cole County Fair wrapped up Saturday. Members of the Jefferson City 4-H Club helped with cleanup at the 4-H building on the fairgrounds.

This year's Jefferson Jaycees Cole County Fair had high attendance and few problems, organizers said.

Capt. John Wheeler of the Cole County Sheriff's Department said the fair was a success from a public safety standpoint.

He said the only arrests were for minors in possession of alcohol, and there were fewer than 10 of those, he said.

There also was fewer people on the "kick out" list - people kicked out of the fair and not allowed to return. Typically, by the last day of the fair, the list has 10-15 people. This year, there were only five on the list, he said.

The Cole County Sheriff's Department typically staffs about 10 deputies at the fair per night, and about half of those are reserve deputies, Wheeler said. Also, between 12 and 16 members of the Sheriff's Posse worked four-hour shifts each day.

"They really helped out. It was really a manpower multiplier," he said.

He said only a few "minor disturbances" occurred, such as people bringing alcoholic drinks onto the midway, where the carnival rides are. That's something the Sheriff's Department will look to address more next year, he said.

He said a meeting will be held in the next couple weeks for everyone involved in the fair to discuss what worked well and what can be improved for next year's fair.

"I think we had a really great year. We had some really great attendance this year," said Erin Wiseman, chairman of the board of the Jefferson City Jaycees.

Attendance figures haven't been determined yet, but she said last Monday night's attendance, in particular, was "phenomenal."

She said some people came to the fair from as far away as Tennessee to see Darryl Worley, a country singer from that state.

Wiseman said she "can't say enough positive things" about the Jaycees and other entities that help coordinate and work the fair each year, from the 4-H members to the law enforcement, Fire Department and emergency medical personnel.

"We wouldn't be able to put on this event without them," she said.

Since it's an election year, more politicians were at the fair this year, Wiseman said, giving people a chance to meet some of the candidates before Tuesday's election.

"That's always interesting; people stop and congregate with the politicians," she said. "Those guys are getting out (and expressing) what they believe in. Democracy is an important thing. They really add a lot to our fair."

Things also went smoothly from the Cole County 4-H program's perspective.

"I thought things went really well," said Jenny Flatt, the University of Missouri Extension Service's youth development specialist for 4-H programs in Cole, Callaway and Osage counties. "There were a lot of people working together: 4-H families, FFA families, pitching in. I saw a lot of kids helping each other, which is what our ideal goal is: kids working together and kind of helping each other out with their animals and their projects."

She said many of the 300 Cole County 4-Hers were represented at the fair, plus FFA members. The county 4-H program has 16 clubs with members ranging in age from 5-18.

Flatt said about 15 percent of the 300 county's 4-H members will take their award-winning projects to compete at the state fair. That includes categories such as produce, arts and crafts, cake decorating, welding and woodworking.

Previous coverage of the 2016 fair:

Ham auction tops $25K for students

Acting up for the kids

Judging the 4-H judges: Youngsters pick the best animals while getting scored themselves

Moos, oinks mark first day of fair