Delta County Fair Board Minutes 03.05.2024

Delta County Fair Board Meeting Tuesday March 5, 2024

Delta County Administrative Building 560 Dodge - Delta, CO 81416

Members in attendance: Jennifer Craig - President, Ryan Bates – Vice President, Cristen Chermak - Secretary, Kelsi Ward – Treasurer. Robbie LeValley – Delta County Administrator, Phillip Hulet – Member, Kim Shea – Parade and Vendors, Gary Peebles was not in attendance.

Jen called the meeting to order at 6:00 p.m.

Guests: Jackie Shea - Tri-County 4-H Extension Agent, Teresa Burns – Royalty Superintendent, Jolene Medill – Horse Superintendent

Minutes

Jen asked for a motion to approve the minutes submitted to the board for the February meeting. After corrections were presented – changing Pihl to Phill and updating Kelsi’s last name to Ward - Phil made the motion to approve the minutes with corrections. Kelsi seconded the motion. The minutes were approved.

Treasurer Report

Kelsey had sent the treasurer's report. 

• Bank of Colorado $79,508.67 
• Money Market Account $20,600.65 
• Total $100,109.32. 

Additionally, Kelsi informed the Board that sponsorship money is being received. She also listed bills that had been paid since the previous meeting. Phil made a motion to approve the treasurer's report. Ryan seconded the motion. The motion passed.

Extension Office Report

Jackie Shea reported that: 

• The Beef Roast was successful. 2200 meals were served. 1 2 
• May 1 is the enrollment deadline for 4-H membership 
• Jackie was interested in dates for open scales. After discussion, the dates were set for: June 4, July 2, and July 25. 
• April 5 is set for tags to be handed out. Families have been asked to make a reservation between 12:00 p.m. and 4:30 p.m. Scales will also be open.

Commissioners Report 

Robbie LeValley reported:

• No news to report at this time.

Royalty Report

Crooklyn Nicolas – Princess – reported that parades they have participated in have been fun and gone well. Paisley Nicolas – Junior Princess – enjoyed participating in the parades as well. Royalty will host a meet and greet on the 16th at the Rogers Mesa Store. The girls have thanked their sponsors for their support.

Guests

Members of the San Juan Buckles and Spurs drill and flag teams were on hand. Holly, Meredith, Charlotte, Emily, Sara and Riley wanted to thank the board for the opportunity to perform during the fair. Also, in the past, they have budgeted to buy flag boots for Delta County Royalty. They are interested in finding out how they can continue to support the royalty/ambassador program. 

The group would love to perform on Saturday evening rodeo. That opportunity would offer them the ability to ride in the parade and then hang out until the rodeo. The group requires members to perform three hours of volunteer work. The group asked about the possibility of assisting during the horse show during the fair. Currently, the group has 14 members and is growing every year.

Jen informed the group that because the Royalty program is morphing into the Ambassador program – which is a difficult transition – flag boots may not be the best use of their funds at this time. Ambassadors will be setting up booths at festivals, give presentations, and foster horsemanship.

Teresa Burns was at the meeting and informed the Board that Royalty went to Montrose and set up an information booth for an event and represented Delta County well. Royalty parents asked about travel expenses that were turned in to Jen and not reimbursed yet. Jen will locate the paperwork.

New Business

• Teresa Burns informed the Board that the Beef Breeding Group is interested in sponsoring beef breeding awards. Further discussion included information regarding beef stock being housed in the barn all week long during the fair. Breeding stock will be brought in on Tuesday during the fair. Cow/calf pairs will be a possible exception to that timeline.
• Bred and Fed update – the Bred and Fed group incorporated and includes beef, sheep, goats, and swine. The group is a youth production program. The incorporation of the group has caused some confusion regarding understanding the difference between the group and Delta County Fair Bred and Fed events. Members of the Board met with Amber Christi to try to come up with a statement explaining that the Bred and Fed group is not affiliated with the Delta County Fair and that money they take in does not filter into the Delta County Fair budget. The Fair show is not changing. There will still be a Bred and Fed Champion. The Board will need to come up with ways to ensure people understand the differences between the group and the handling of Bred and Fed events at the fair. Ryan and Amber are planning to meet monthly to develop handling of information. 
• The 2024 Fair Schedule is a work in progress. Currently, the schedule includes: 
  • Jr. Rodeo on Saturday 
  • Team Roping on Sunday 
  • No entertainment on Monday 
  • Goat show on Tuesday 
  • Adult Showmanship on Wednesday 
  • Ranch Rodeo on Thursday 
  • Mini Broncs/Mini Bulls, Mutton Bustin on Friday 
  • Rodeo on Saturday

We need to find a specialty act for the fair. The previous act proposed has is unable to perform at our fair. 

• The plan is to have posters for the fair out at the end of June/beginning of July. 
• The tag hand-out and the beef nomination process in Hotchkiss and Delta went very well. Everyone got information uploaded. The process received a positive response. 4 
• The family nomination process requires that an animal has to be registered for each member of a family who might possibly show the animal. During pre-registration, specific tag numbers will be assigned to a specific family member. That member will be the only person able to show the animal. 
• The 4-H registration system will not allow for double tag numbers to be entered. Therefore, registering the same tag number to multiple family members is not possible at this time. Jackie will double check to determine if there is a way around the system. 
• Award update – Jackie will survey 4-H members asking if they want to receive a ribbon or not for their placing during shows. Members who do not want a ribbon will not – which will lower ribbon cost. Shooting Sports members have indicated they are satisfied with buckles and gift cards. 
• Kelsi is investigating credit card processing possibilities. 
• After discussion, Kenny and Teresa Burns were named Grand Marshalls for the 2024 Delta County Fair. Bill Hunt was named Grand Marshall for the 2025 Delta County Fair. 
• Jen is reformatting the fair book to determine if we can save money by printing the book on our own. Cristen indicated that she is interested in helping to review/edit the fair book. 
• The Board discussed additional signage needed for the fair. Anyone with ideas/requests will message Jen. • Judges – Ryan is in the process of securing judges for the fair. Judges are on board for poultry, hogs, the dog show, and sheep. 
• Cristen will contact Heritage Hall Superintendents and work to schedule a superintendent meeting at the Maloney House on the Fair Grounds. • The end of April is the goal for completing editing of the 2024 Fair Book. 
• Set up at the Beef Barn will be different from previous years. Sawdust will be at the end of the barn. Kids will get their own sawdust. • Jen needs information for the Facebook page. Anyone with information should submit that information to Jen. 
• April 10 is scheduled for tags to be handed out in Delta at the Extension Office and in Hotchkiss at the Fair Grounds.

Ryan moved to adjourn the meeting. Kelsi seconded the motion. The motion was passed unanimously. The meeting adjourned at 7:11 p.m.

Respectfully submitted by Cristen Chermak for input or corrections.