Delta County Fair Board Minutes 05.07.2024

Delta County Fair Board Meeting Tuesday May 7, 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 Kelley - Parade and Vendors, and Gary Peebles were not in attendance. 

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

Guests: Jackie Shea - Tri-County 4-H Extension Agent, Paige Hebert, Bill McKee

Minutes

Minutes for April will be emailed to Board members prior to the June meeting. Jen asked for any additions or corrections to the minutes. No changes or corrections were presented by board members. Jen asked for a motion to approve the minutes. Kelsi made the motion to approve the minutes and Ryan seconded the motion.

Treasurer’s Report

As I said last month, our debit card number was compromised. We caught it in time and none of the fraudulent charges were posted to our account.

Since our last meeting, we have received $4,424 in sponsorship money.

Current account balances are:

• Checking: $87,181.17 
• Money market: $20,604.10 
• Total: $107,785.27

An unpaid 2021 invoice from Homestead has now been paid. Ryan made a motion for the board to approve the Treasurer’s report. Cristen seconded the motion. The Board passed the motion unanimously.

Extension Office Report

Jackie reported that half of the buckle order has arrived, and the other half should be received next week.

Royalty Report

Royalty members were not present. Teresa Burns reported that she had arranged for professional portraits to be taken of them. Also, they will be helping at the car show next Saturday behind Zack’s Barbeque and at the Republican Party Lincoln Day Dinner in Heritage Hall on June 22. Additionally, Pioneer Days is the first weekend in June. The girls will be riding in the parade.

Guests/Public Comment

Paige Hebert was present to discuss the Jr. Rodeo. 

• Paige stated that they decided to hold the Jr. Rodeo on July 13. 
• The Board agreed that forms need to be put online ASAP so that entries can all be completed in that manner. Entries will be accepted as soon as they are completed online. 
• Paige has an entry form she is proofreading to determine if any changes need to be made. She will forward the form to Jen. Jen will make the form available online. 
• No late entries will be accepted. There is a hard deadline. 
• Ryan requested a start time so that the information can be placed in the Fair Book and in advertising outlets. 
• Paige asked about sponsorship details. She would like to know funds available for awards. Ryan stated that whatever funds are collected are split between the Jr. and Ranch Rodeos. Paige asked if the organizing committee could get their own sponsors.

Ryan shared that sponsors could donate by logging on to deltacountyfair.com and specifying the event they want their donation to be directed on the comment line. To ensure that awards for events are kept comparable, sponsorship monies need to be run through Fair Board accounts. Delta County businesses and residents are asked for donations year around. To be considerate, it is important that numerous entities do not approach businesses asking for donations for fair events. Doing so can limit 3 donations to other organizations and groups at other times during the year. Annual award expense for the fair runs around $40,000. The Fair Board is committed to purchasing belt buckles for Jr. Rodeo awards plus $1000 to put toward other awards/expenses.

County Commissioner Report

Robbie LeValley informed the Board that Brian was able to order two coolers for the Beer Garden so we will not have to dip our hands in ice regularly to serve beverages.

Old Business

• Ear tags – Still need to work on weigh-in, tagging, and nomination procedures. Changes have been implemented to make these procedure more seamless. However, the best practices for procedures seem to be a work in progress. Making tag handouts and weigh-ins separate events would work better than trying to conduct both at the same time. 
  • Requiring four pictures for nominations seems excessive. 
  • A lot of families do not know how to tag. We will be replacing a lot of tags and buttons. 
  • There could be a two-hour tag-in event and then an open scale weigh-in opportunity. Animals could be weighed if desired, but not a requirement. o Animals could be registered with ear notches and tagged at fair. Ear notch procedures have their own learning curve. 
• Heritage Hall
  • Cristen forwarded Heritage Hall changes for the Fair Book to Jen. There are additional changes for the Flower Department that will be forwarded shortly. 
  • Hillary Stein – the Hotchkiss K-8 Art teacher will be the new Ceramics/Crafts Superintendent for the fair. She is excited. 
  • Judges for Pantry, Horticulture/Agriculture, and Flowers still need to be determined. 
• Determining the best source for printing fair books is still in progress. The most efficient, cost effective option has yet to be found. 
• Credit card processing – Jen and Kelsie have been figuring out the best software to use. Jen has spoken to two companies. Donor Snap is confident they can figure out the best method 4 for us. The representative will be contacting Jen again soon. 
• Wristbands – we need to order wristbands – higher quality than previously purchased. The cheaper ones break too easily. • Buyer letters – Jen wrote a letter to last year’s buyers. Ryan reviewed the letter, addressed the envelopes, and included two BBQ tickets before mailing them. Additionally, sale flyers have been sent to two new buyers. 
• Online forms – Up and ready to go on the website. 
• Vendors/Parade – Kim notified Ryan that vendors applications are coming in. She raised the fee $10 over last year. The ice trailer is reserved. Kim is working on the parade entry form – changing to fewer categories and raising award amounts. 
• Bob Stuplich and his daughter from Crawford have volunteered to bring a few of their well-trained Yaks on Friday night during the fair for rides. They will always be with the Yaks. 
• Chicken Barrel Racing – is a no go. • Adult Showmanship – Ryan will update information, forms, and rules. 

New Business

• We need a date for the Ranch Rodeo. We also need to decide on the number of teams that can enter. Current thought is for ten teams. Also, a date to activate and deactivate entries. Each team can run in three or four events. 
• Junior Rodeo and Mutton Bustin’ entries fill up quickly. The cost to enter will be increased this year to $20 for Mutton Bustin’ due to sheep rental fees. Pre-entry forms will be on the website. 
• The website needs to be updated with Kelsie’s married name. 
• Wristbands for the Beer Garden. Do we have a different color for each night? An ID must be shown to purchase a wrist ticket for the beer garden. 
• Teresa Burns mentioned that the FFA alumni have been running the concession stand during the Junior Rodeo. Does the Board want the alumni to do so again this year or are there other plans? The Board confirmed that the FFA alumni should run the concession stand again for the Junior Rodeo and the Horse Show – especially since there are not any other vendors on site, and it is important to have concessions available. 5 
• Jackie brought up for discussion that a few FFA members did not turn in pictures with their registration paperwork. How does the Board want to manage the situation? After discussion, it was decided that registrations without pictures will not be valid. The members will be informed that they are not registered for the fair. The rules/information was made available to all FFA teachers in the county early on. Jackie personally called every FFA teacher in the county, took paperwork to them, and emailed repeatedly. Rules are in place for a reason and exceptions impact everyone. 
• Jackie also brought up for discussion a situation that has developed. Currently, there is a family that lives in Atlanta and who owns ground in Somerset. Although Somerset is in Gunnison County, the area is considered the Delta County area due to geographical location. Somerset, Pea Green, and Mayer all fall under that designation. That said, it was not known earlier that the steers entered are being raised in Olathe at this time due to hardship according to the family. This far into the 4-H project, they are going to be allowed to continue and show their animals at the fair. However, Jackie has informed the family they need to come to a fair board meeting to discuss their situation. They also must fill out an animal housing and care form if there really is a hardship, so we know where the animals are and but to adhere to Delta County Fair rules. The rule is that the family must live in Delta County, or the kids must go to school in Delta County. When they enrolled in their projects this year, Jackie checked the address but did not realize the animals were housed in Olathe. The animals will be moved up to Hotchkiss when they move cows, but we need to keep this situation on our radar. 
• Jen stated that there has been a monthly meeting with the Bred and Fed group – specifically Amber. The meetings have been going well. The group asked for permission to present their awards after the Beef Show or after Pee Wee Showmanship. Jen has agreed to conduct their award presentation after Pee Wee Showmanship. 
• Breeding birds will not be housed at the fairgrounds. There will be a breeding birds show, but they will be taken home after the show. The state vet’s office will be contacted for a recommendation regarding housing dairy cows on the fairgrounds. 
• Cristen will count the ribbons on hand and get a current count. 

There were no additional items to add to the New Business discussion. Jen asked for a motion to adjourn the meeting. Kelsi moved to adjourn the meeting. Ryan seconded the motion. After a unanimous vote, the motion passed. The meeting adjourned at 7:00 p.m.