Morgan County Fair Board sets tentative 2023 schedule of events. Check it out.

During its meeting Tuesday night, the Morgan County Fair Board gave tentative approval to a proposed schedule for the showing of animals at the 2023 fair.

The 2023 fair will run from July 7 to July 15, which is earlier than previous fairs. The date change was made due to the early scheduling of the Indiana State Fair.

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The schedule is the work of both members of the fair board and representatives from the local 4-H organization. It still must be approved by the 4-H council.

There may need to be some "tweaking" done to the schedule.

At this time, the set up day for the fair will be Wednesday June 28 after the Lions Club meeting ends. On June 29 and 30, judging of indoor projects will take place.

On Saturday, July 1, the Llama, horse and pony shows will take place.

On Wednesday, July 5, there will be project judging, the annual open house of the 4-H building and the food auction will take place.

Thursday, July 6 will feature the dog show.

Activity picks up on Friday, July 7 as sheep, goat, beef and swine move on to the fairgrounds.

Saturday, July 8 will feature open class swine show.

Sunday, July 9 includes the market beef and goat shows. Poultry arrive on the fairgrounds.

Monday, July 10 is the swine and poultry shows with rabbits arriving for competition.

Tuesday, July 11 features the 4-H sheep and beef grooming shows.

Wednesday, July 12 includes the 4-H beef and 4-H dairy shows.

Thursday, July 13 features the cat and small animal shows, the goat pet olympics, and the round robin competition.

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Friday, July 14 includes the fur and feathers contest, the 4-H Livestock auction and the Battle of the Barns contest.

Saturday, July 15 includes the Chopped Challenge and the open sheep show.

Cleanup of exhibits begins and finishes on Sunday July 16.

Other changes

Poor Jack's Amusements will be back on the midway. The carnival will open on July 7 and will close on July 14.

Fair board vice president Jim Lankford said the events in the grandstand are still being worked on. He said the board is planning to have two nights of demo derby at the end of the fair, July 14 and 15.

Lime causing problems

The fair's beef barn has been used in the past for people to store their boats during the winter months. A few years ago, due to problems with the barn's floor, a decision was made to put a layer of lime on top of the dirt which seals the dirt off and makes cleanup after the fair easier.

The downside is the lime is causing problems to the metal trailers holding the boats and to the new metal panels used during the fair to separate the cows.

At the time the decision to use lime was made, it was less expensive then using cement or asphalt.

Both of those materials would require an underground drainage system to be installed under the floor.

With the problems the lime is causing, the board needs to revisit the matter.

Some members wondered if the fairgrounds could use millings from roads to cover the floor.

The board received truck loads of millings that were used to cover the pit area in back of the grandstand.

Board members asked the building and grounds committee to look at possible changes and make a recommendation next year.

Lankford passed around a committee list for board members to sign up on.

The all-volunteer board depends on its members forming committees to help with the running of the fair. One of the more challenging committees is the one that reviews the fair's bylaws and its constitution. According to the bylaws, they must be reviewed every five years and updated if needed.

Another area that needs review is the policy of renting fair property and what it costs.

Several board members have indicated the need to update the makeup of the board. According to some members, there must be representation from all townships in the county. There is also a problem with some members who never go to board meetings or only attend one or two meetings a year.

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On the financial side, fair treasure Keno Koehl gave the financial list for the fair. The fair's financial year runs from Nov. 1 to Oct. 31. As of Sept. 30, the fair was about $28,000 in the red. Koehl said the fair had received the second draw from the county, $62,500, which should make them come close to breaking even for the year. The county budgets $125,000 a year to help the fair cover costs of operations.

The next scheduled meeting of the Morgan County Fair Board is set for 7 p.m. on Tuesday, Nov. 15 at the fairgrounds, 1749 Hospital Dr., Martinsville.

This article originally appeared on The Reporter Times: Morgan County Fair Board sets tentative 2023 schedule of events