Serving Gogebic, Iron and Ontonagon Counties
Serving Gogebic, Iron and Ontonagon Counties
By Zachary Marano
Ironwood — The Gogebic County Fair Board met on Monday to discuss business as the first day of the fair is only five weeks away on Aug. 12. Items on the meeting agenda included finding business vendors for the vacant spots at the fair and making the fairgrounds ready for the big event.
Fair coordinator Terrtu Anderson said that the fair is low on vendors this year. Many vendors simply do not have enough staffing to attend this year’s fair, she said.
Board member Holly Ramme said she knows a vendor who would be interested in attending the fair but does not want to participate for all four days. She said the board could fill the empty rental spots by allowing vendors to sign up for just one day at discounted rates.
The cost of renting a spot for four days is $250 for an outdoor vendor booth or $100 for an expo building booth.
On providing one-day spots to vendors for reduced costs, board member Tom Hampston said that “something is better than nothing.”
Board member Shellie Suckow said one problem with allowing one-day vendors would be the logistics of moving them in and out of the fair while the event is still ongoing.
“It’s not so much the ‘in,’ because the morning is easy. It’s the ‘out,’ depending on what time she’d want to leave. Unless she had to leave her stuff overnight and pick it up in the morning,” Suckow said.
The board agreed to table the issue until the next meeting in two weeks while Anderson searches for vendors willing to purchase a spot for all four days.
Anderson said the board should plan for traffic around the fair. The west gate of the fairgrounds is located on a bend of U.S. 2 where visibility is limited by trees, she said. There are also traffic cones in the area related to the roundabout construction just to the west in Hurley
Anderson asked the board to imagine the pending traffic issues. “We got a disaster waiting out there. In broad daylight, it’s hard to pull out of here,” she said.
Hampston said he will contact the state police about providing traffic control during the fair.
In other news, the board:
—Agreed to host the Lake States Mud Racers at this year’s fair and prepare the track on the fairgrounds.
—Declined to pursue the services of parking lot attendants who worked at previous fairs.
—Agreed to repair the road and parking lot in the fairgrounds using regrind before the event in August.
—Agreed to help Bob Johnson of Barber Road Stables cover half of his liability insurance, up to $200, so he could continue to offer free horse rides at the fairgrounds this year.
