Electric upgrades ready for fair

Nevada Daily Mail

Exhibitors will no longer have to battle old breaker boxes during the 2014 Vernon County Youth Fair. Fair Board president Doug Johnson announced Wednesday at the monthly meeting that the electrical upgrade project has been finished a month before fair time.

"The whole thing's done," he said. "They finished it up two weeks ago."

Johnson said the board has received several grants and donations to help cover some of the cost of putting in a new system. The Timberline 4-H donated $250 toward the project, and the Fair Board received confirmation that it had been awarded 4-H and FFA grants totaling $1,000.

Because KCP&L contributed to the project by donating part of the upgrades, including the cost of hardware and labor, the Fair Board approved a motion to provide free meal tickets for during the fair for employees who worked on the project.

"For as much as they donated, as quick as they got it done, they deserve it," Johnson said.

The board briefly discussed repainting the barn roofs -- another possible fairground improvement project. A focus of the topic was determining if it could be a community service or volunteer project.

Neal Gerster said he couldn't recall exactly when the roofs were last painted, but thought it was around 1999.

"We painted them once, but that was 12 to 15 years ago," he said.

At April's meeting, the fair board encountered the issue of not having a leader for the cat committee. Without a designated person, the cat show would likely not be able to take place. The board announced Wednesday that Moria Randall will head the cat committee, and that youth showing felines will still have an event to participate in at next month's fair.

In upcoming events, a sheep and goat weigh-in will be held Sunday from 6 to 7 p.m. Those at the Wednesday meeting discussed a fungal infection prevalent in the county that could be spread at the weigh-in.

Several attendees at the meeting mentioned farms they knew who were dealing with the fungus, and how to avoid spreading it in situations where sheep and goats from different farms were in one location.

Secretary Megan Byram said her livestock have been battling the fungus but would be fine by fair time. For her, a solution to preventing spread at the weigh-in was step on the scales last. But, she said, everyone attending the weigh-in should follow biosafety precautions when returning home to prevent spread from other goats that do -- or don't -- show symptoms.

"Be aware of the fact you're going to be exposed to it," she said.