Looking for the latest information about the upcoming Oconto County Youth Fair?
Fair organizers have made finding details about the 85th annual event — set for Aug. 27-30 at the Oconto County Fairgrounds in Gillett — quick and easy by launching a new website, www.ocontocountyyouthfair.org.
Information is also available on the fair’s Facebook page, but Fair Secretary Cindy Arndt said visitors and exhibitors can find updated information on the website.
That information includes details on how to get to the fairgrounds because of the ongoing construction on state Highway 22. Fair visitors will run into the ongoing road construction work and detours in and around the city.
“It’s going to be a problem,” Arndt said. “You will not be able to come in from (Highway) 22 from the north at all. That’s still going to be closed. From the west, we hear rumors that it may be open to Main Street, but that remains to be seen. Everybody has an opinion and tells you a different story. If you come in from the east to Gillett, Washington Street is accessible. If you’re coming from other directions, you may have to take the detour on Klaus Lake Road and come back on Washington.”
That’s where the improved website is a helpful tool, Arndt said.
“It’s brand new,” she said. “Our old website was very hard to use. We weren’t in charge of that one, so we scrapped it and took it over ourselves. It has all the directions on there. It’s very simple and easy to use with a lot of information. It’s very user-friendly. You go on and use the little click-downs on the top.”
Although the fair doesn’t officially get underway until Aug. 27, events will kick off Aug. 22 with the small animal, caged bird, cat dog and horse shows.
The day will begin with the small animal and caged bird show at 8:30 a.m., followed by the horse show at 9 a.m., the cat show at 9:30 a.m. and the dog show at approximately 10 a.m.
“We don’t have room for it at the fair,” Arndt said when asked why the shows are held early. “We don’t have room to house horses. Everything’s used up, and they’d like to have their small animal, cat, dog and caged bird shows inside. We just don’t have the room in any of the barns to do that. They do theirs the Saturday before (the fair opens), and we’re trying to get more people to come to that.
“This year, we’re having some music. There will be a food truck and some vendors. We’re going to try to do an apple pie bakeoff where they bring their pies to be judged. There are two age group categories. There’s a puzzle contest where they’ll come and put a puzzle together in a certain amount of time. We’re also doing a make-and-take patriotic craft for 5- to 10-year-olds.”
The fairgrounds will also be open Aug. 26 for the swine and sheep show.
As in the past, the fair’s four-day run will include junior and open class exhibits and shows; a midway with carnival rides; family entertainment; live music; truck and tractor pulls; and vendors in the Expo Hall.
Arndt said this year’s fair will have a few new additions.
“We have a new gentleman doing his magic act,” she said. “It’s called Bob Bohm’s Family Entertainment. That’ll be three shows a day Friday, Saturday and Sunday.”
Improvements have also been made to the track, which hosts truck and tractor pulls.
“On Saturday night, we’ll have what we’re calling Smoken at the Fair, which will be farm tractors and semis,” Arndt said. “The truck pull is big on the Fourth of July, but the antique ones are starting to wane a little bit. They want to see smoke, and they want to see power. We still want to keep the antiques in our shows, so on Sunday, we’re having an antique tractor show where they can come and just display their tractors.”
A major attraction at the fair each year are the animals that FFA and 4-H members and Scouts exhibit, but Arndt said other projects are featured as well.
“We have an entire expo hall full of things kids bring, anything from produce, fruit, crops, house plants, clothing, crocheting, knitting, pictures are a big thing, anything to do with art,” she said. “We also have Junior, Open and Senior Citizens classes, so even if you’re not in anything, but you’re still in Oconto County and want to bring something to the fair, you can enter it in the Open class.”
Volunteers and the fair board help make the fair a reality each year, according to Arndt.
She is the secretary of the board, which also includes President Jake Kasten; Vice President Dan Arndt; Treasurer Cliff Gerbers; and members Michelle Klimpke, Nicole Blaskowski, Bob Schumacher, Wendy Vorpahl, Pete Vorpahl, Roxann Arndt, Bernie McCarthy and Jeff Dickson.
“There are a lot of hours spent by fair board people, the officers in particular,” Cindy Arndt said. “We’ll meet and run through ideas and bring them to the board for approval. A lot of that happens behind the scenes and that’s a whole year deal. We kind of start after the fair’s over working on the next year.”
Last year’s fair was Arndt’s first as fair secretary.
“It kind of showed me how I didn’t have everything organized,” she said. “On my end, it’s making sure I have things that the kids need and making sure that they have their paperwork that’s supposed to be there.”
The animal and project exhibits are one of the reasons behind the fair’s success, Arndt said.
“I think that’s part of it,” she said. “People like to come see what the kids are doing. Getting other people from the county involved with their own stuff in the Open class also helps. People like to come and enjoy the sights and sounds and smells of a fair. A good carnival is a must, and Christman Amusements has been extremely good to us. They’re great to work with.”
The fair hasn’t changed much over the years, Arndt said.
“I don’t know that it really has, other than it’s maybe a little more glitzy, and it’s probably a little better organized than it used to be,” she said. “It’s so important to try to have things done ahead of time so when somebody’s asking for something, you can help them.
“I can’t say enough about the people that sponsor the fair, that give monetary donations,” she added. “We can’t charge anyone to come into the fair, so we have to find other ways to generate money to run the fair. Without those people, it would be difficult.”
Weather will play a role in fair attendance, and Arndt said organizers lucked out last year with ideal conditions.
“Last year, we had four great days,” she said. “If we have an all-day rain, that really knocks down attendance. Sometimes the pulls get canceled, but the show ring is basically covered, and it can still go on if it’s raining.”
