Published: March 16, 2008 11:43 pm            

Volunteers, parents help keep county fair in motion year-round

The Walker County Fair has a 10-day run each year from the last week in March through the first week in April.

The fair draws from 10,000 to 20,000 people each year, depending on the weather.

They are attracted to the Walker County Fairgrounds by the carnival, rodeo, entertainment, livestock shows, livestock auction or any other number of events.

At least 500 youngsters in 4-H, FFA and FCCLA and adults make their way to the fairgrounds west of Huntsville to compete in a variety of events.

The bulk of events take place during the 10 days, but the Walker County Fair Association prepares for the extravaganza year-round to keep stride.

Manpower for the year-round endeavor is supplied by volunteers from throughout the county in addition to parents, who are required to work two hours per child.

The association — recognized as the largest youth-centered organization in the county — relies on volunteers to serve on the board of directors, chair committees and work on committees.

Carol Smith, treasurer for the fair association, said volunteers and parents number more than 300.

“It is a huge operation and there are so many little pieces to the puzzle,” Smith said of the fair. “But everybody pulls together with their committee and gets it done.

“This is a 12-month a year process. We’re already thinking about next year’s fair now. Some people have asked us does our board need to meet every month out of the year.

“The answer to that is yes because the way our process works is once the fair is over our fiscal year ends May 31. We elect new officers and board members the second Tuesday in June.”

“July and August are devoted to rule changes,” Smith said. “September is when the students come back for the Kickoff Jamboree Night and October is Halloween. November and December would be about the only time if we decided not to have year-round meetings, they are needed each month.”

Smith estimates that a minimum of 300 committee volunteers, and maybe a few more in number, help keep the fair association and the fair in motion.

“We have no real count on the number of parents who show up. Parents have to work a certain number of work hours as well as the students. We only have two paid employees and they are part time. Everything else is volunteer.”

Smith said there are more than 50 volunteers who serve on the board of directors.

“We have committee chairs over everything imaginable from each individual livestock area down to general waste management,” she said. “That includes the carnival, the barbecue cookoff. Everything has a chairman over it.

“All of those committees are organized under vice presidents. They can select committee members to help them make sure their event runs smoothly and takes place correctly.

“Some committee members number quite a bit like the rodeo committee which is a large committee. With what they have to do, it takes a lot of manpower.”

Smith said parents help in different ways, but a primary responsibility for them is working the ticket gates.

“Taking tickets and selling tickets at the gate is a real big need that we have,” she said, “and oftentimes we do get volunteers from around the community like the banks and different organizations if they have a large enough memberships where they can help.”

Smith said estimating the number of youngsters at 500 to compete is conservative because of the different areas of livestock events, canned and baked goods, academic rodeo, fair queen, clothing, sewing and buying, horticulture, arts and crafts and photography.

“It’s a pretty broad spectrum out there,” she said. “We try to have something for almost every interest there might be. It is a countywide fair. Everybody has to become involved. The private schools are becoming more involved through 4-H programs.

“The fair has grown over the years. It would be tough to say exactly how many participants and volunteers we had in the beginnning. We’ve always had a good turnout, but the need and interest have grown.”

Smith said growth has occurred because of family projects in the fair and family participation.

“You wind up with a good cross-section of the county,” she said. “Walker County is supportive of most any kind of youth activity, but this one in particular, without fail, I am always amazed at how the businesses and individuals turn out to support these kids.”

        

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