Last year, 90-degree temperatures and heavy humidity didn’t keep people from visiting the Mighty Howard County Fair, and while there will likely be frigid temperatures and snow on the ground for a while yet this winter season, this year’s fair—set for Wednesday, June 23 through Sunday, June 27—is already looking to live up to its big name.
According to Tom Barnes, Executive Secretary of the Howard County Agricultural Society, the fair will boast many of the previous year’s popular attractions, but with some new surprises. Read on as he takes us through the planned events for the fair, making us wish for warmer weather…
Grandstand entertainment
Wednesday, June 23: The evening entertainment will include a rodeo complete with bull riding, barrel racing and mutton bustin’—an event that is open to all youth ages 6 and under. “Usually we have about 30 kids for this,” said Barnes. “We’ve had [this event] for the last four or five years, and it’s been a very good rodeo. People really seem to enjoy it, and it’s very well-attended, which is why we keep bringing it back.”
Following the rodeo event will be fireworks.
Thursday, June 24: There will be B-Mod/SportMod, stock car and hobby stock races. “The feature attraction is, of course, the Hawkeye Dirt Tour—it features IMCA modifieds and that’s why we’re on Thursday, so we can be part of the tour,” said Barnes. “There’s going to be a lot of participation in that tour. It’s going to be a big night.”
Friday, June 25: “Friday is one of the two fun nights—it’s our classic rock ‘n’ roll night. The first group is called ‘Dead or Alive,’ and it’s the number one Bon Jovi tribute band,” said Barnes, adding that typically there is a conference in December where Iowa fair boards meet to book entertainment. “We’ve used this agency—AME Entertainment out of Kansas City—in previous years.”
Barnes says Friday is going to be a fun night. “The other band is ‘Silver Bullet,’ which is a tribute to Bob Segur. [Fairgoers] will get their fill of classic rock ‘n’ roll that night.”
Saturday, June 26: It’s country music night! Barnes says they will have Justin Moore, whose song “Small Town USA” was the only song by a new country artist to top the Billboard chart in 2009. “We got him through a different agency [Variety Attractions of Zanesville, Ohio], but they’ve been good to us on our Country Music shows. We’ve worked with [the agency] for many years on Country entertainers. Moore was just named Billboard Magazine’s 2009 New Country Artist of the Year,” said Barnes.
Sunday, June 27: It’s been over 20 years since the fairgrounds have featured an Enduro Series racing event. “An Enduro is a specialty car, almost like a Figure 8 car. Everybody starts to race at once—250 laps for two hours—and they don’t stop the race unless the track is blocked or somebody’s life is in peril,” said Barnes, adding that the young man who runs the circuit used to race in Cresco. “We’re really excited about teaming up with him. It should be a good thing—we should have quite a few cars.”
Barnes says the “Pay-One-Price Grandstand Button” will be back again this year, helping community members cut down on their entertainment costs. The cost of the buttons will be $15 per button before the fair and $18 at the fair. Children who are in preschool or under are free. Button holders are eligible for nightly drawings of cash prizes and merchandise certificates. “We were the first fair in Iowa [to have the Grandstand Button],” said Barnes. “1985 was our first year, now fairs are using this concept all over. You can also get single-night admissions, too, but we don’t know exactly what prices will be yet.”
Additional Entertainment
•Pat Doyle, the chainsaw-carving artist, will be back at the fair this summer, creating out of logs animals, wildlife and caricatures that vary in size from about one foot to life-size. “This will be his eleventh year with us, I think,” said Barnes.
Doyle travels throughout the country, creating his chainsaw sculptures at antique shows, festivals and fairs. He was raised on a farm in Iowa and now carves full time at his wooded acreage and on tour.
•New this year will be a lumberjack show with plenty of log rolling, pull climbing and axe chopping. “The neat thing about this show is there’s a kid’s camp,” said Barnes. “We’ve been looking at this for the last couple of years. We like to rotate our grounds entertainment. We wanted something a little more spectacular this year than in pervious years, and this is something the whole family can participate in. It’ll be fun, and it’s free—there will be multiple shows per day.”
•On Friday and Sunday of the fair, Scott Epperson, nationally renowned Barney Fife impersonator, will be patrolling the fairgrounds and issuing comedic tickets to fairgoers. “This guy is hilarious, he actually lives in Mount Airy, NC—the hometown of Andy Griffith. We’re sharing him with [the Butler County Fair in Allison, Iowa]. We went together on this one so we could both afford him,” said Barnes. “He’ll be out on the plaza stage before we do the show on Friday night.”
•As always, there will be plenty of contests for people to enter, from cooking to art. More information will become available in a couple of months. “One is our ‘Got Talent Contest,’ which has been expanded,” said Barnes. “It was really good last year, we were really surprised about that since it was the first year.”
Barnes says the “Got Talent Contest” is open to people of all ages, solo or group. The entertainment must be family friendly only and there can be no animal acts or dangerous acts. Acts can include singing, dancing, magic, animal calling, skits, string instruments or keyboard. A CD player and microphone will be provided. Participants will be judged on entertainment value, performance confidence and audience reaction. Last year there was a first place prize of $500, a second place prize of $250 and a third place prize of $100. Entry forms will be available closer to the dates of the fair.
•Barnes says the Fair Board is always looking for candidates for Howard County Fair Queen. Last year’s winner Kayla Dietzenbach, who has represented the county in activities throughout the year, will be back to crown a new queen. Each contestant must be at least 16 years of age and not more than 21 years of age on the first day of the Iowa State Fair.
•“With the Farm Bureau Cookout Contest, we’re working with another community, Chester, in hopes of tying all the towns in Howard County together—to logistically have them at the fair at a grand cook-off to send someone to the State Fair,” said Barnes. “We’ve done the cookout contest before, but we’re excited this year to be able to work with Chester. Plus there will be incentives like monetary prizes and we are all working together. Everyone needs to work together to promote the events, that just makes a stronger community.”
•Additionally, Barnes says the “Big Loser Contest” is always popular and the go-kart races draw a lot of people. “There is a lot of stuff, the grounds entertainment this year is very solid—the grandstand entertainment, we’re just very pleased with. We’re bringing new stuff this year where it’s going to bring new people,” he said. “We’re looking forward to the fair. The Board does a great job; they work hard and they don’t sit back. We’re not just there for those five days, we’re there setting up the week before the fair, and then we’re there the next Monday tearing it down. But it’s fun—we wouldn’t do it if it wasn’t fun.”
Still, Barnes says while the entertainment is looking to be plentiful at the fair this year, things will continue to evolve. “We’re still going to be adding and changing things,” he said.
Cresco, Iowa —
