The meeting began with a thank you from Commissioner Jeremy Pasel where he welcomed new committee members to the committee and welcomed those that previously worked on the board and committee back.
The 2025 Decatur County 4-H Fair is scheduled for July 10, 2025- July 16, 2025.
Fair Committee Members are- President- Kevin Crites- 4 years, Vice President- Mark Koors- 2 years, Treasurer- Mary Lou Davis- 4 years, Secretary- Barb Waechter- 2 years, Scott Best- 4 years, Scott Smith- 4 years, Mark Hirt- 2 years, Commissioner- Jeremy Pasel, Council- Danny Peters, At-Large- Chris Ramey
Kevin Crites, Fair Committee President explained that the committee will be ran utilizing Robert’s Rule during all meetings. Kevin took the opportunity to thank all prior committee and board members by stating, “This fair has been going on over 60 years and it’s because of the hard-working volunteers that have kept it going.” Kevin said that he wants to ensure transparency, and that the committee will be recording minutes at each meeting and those will be made public via the counties website once they are approved.
During the meeting it was verified that the bylaws have been signed by Commissioners Mark Koors, Jeremy Pasel, and Tony Blodgett and have been filed with the Recorder’s office.
The topic of the committee finances came up and it was explained that the committee’s finances will be ran through the County offices as it has been done in the past few years. All claims and purchase requests will go to the commissioners for approval and to be paid. The fund that is set up is a non-reverting fund that ensures that all funds go back into the fairground account only and does not go into the county general account.
The following committee assignments were approved during the meeting- Track & Grandstand Events- Scott Best, 4-H Queen Pageant- Barbara Waechter, Commercial Rentals- Danny Peters, Midway & Luehrs Liaison- Kevin Crites, and Parade- Chris Ramey.
Five representatives from the committee will be attending the Fair & Festival Convention in Indianapolis in January.
The current plan for the new community building to break ground March 2025, however they expect to have concrete poured and steel structure up before the 2025 fair. Before they break ground the current community building will be torn down and the Optimist Booth space will be relocated to sit on the concrete pad that the community building currently sits on.
The committee discussed that they plan to have the new lights to be installed at the grandstand and track area before the fair.
Chris Ramey asked the committee members if they would like to continue to use the Facebook page that he has been managing for nearly three years and all committee members agreed that it is a great source to get information out to the public. It was mentioned that the Facebook name could be confusing using the individual years of the fair. Chris will be going in and taking the year off to allow for the fair to be more easily searched. Chris also asked about creating a website as many other fairs have that available and it would allow for access to forms to fill out. The committee requested that he look more into this and costs and bring that information back to the other committee members.
The committee also discussed the need to run the parade through the fairgrounds as done in prior years.
The committee also discussed using the Grandstand App moving forward and Christopher Fogle said that he would reach out to see if he can gather analytics on the frequency of when the app is used. The cost of the app is $800 per year. Christopher Fogle also explained that the app has much more uses then what the committee is using it for.
A representative from the 4-H Council came to the committee and let them know:
- They are currently finalizing the show schedule and that should be available soon
- Discussed the electricity in the barns and that we need to increase the power available as the need for additional power has increased. It was stated, “We are running 2004 power with a 2024 demand.”
- Discussion about needing new cattle barricades
- Discussed Goat Barn challenges and possible changes
- The Fair Committee and the 4-H Council representative discussed reconfiguring layouts for more space throughout the barns.
Bonita Hellmich received approval to increase the Open Class judge’s reimbursement from $55 to $70. She let the committee know that her office has went ahead and ordered the ribbons needed.
The next meeting is scheduled for January 15, 2025, at 6:30 pm. The meetings are held at the Purdue Extension Office in the meeting room. Meetings will be held moving forward on the 3rd Wednesday of each month at 6:30 pm.
The Fair Facebook Page is https://www.facebook.com/DecaturCountyIN4HFair
