It's that time of season, it's that time of year, the Allen County Fair is here!
The Allen County Fair runs from August 18-26. Operations Manager Troy Elwer told us there are a lot of new events at this year's fair including Micro Wrestling, the Jungle Island Zoo, Majestic Circus and Pre-Historic Dinosaur Adventures. Troy also told us that Saturday night's Hardy concert sold out 12,152 tickets in just 15 minutes. "We've sold out shows before, but nothing this quick." In addition to the new events, all the traditional fair fun is back this year including rides, games, fair food, the junior fair, the livestock auction, and plenty of free entertainment. Troy also told us that we'll see a lot of capital improvements at the fairgrounds this year arising from the needs analysis that was developed last year. "I really took a look a the grand scheme of our infrastructure and saw what are the needs that we really need to improve. With this needs analysis, I developed it into a five year plan." That plan includes installing 46 security cameras around the 135 acre fairgrounds, which can be monitored by the Allen County Sheriff's Office and Allen County EMA, building a gazebo over the Nutrien Plaza Stage behind the grandstand, hanging a 10' x 10" electronic sign on the back of the grandstand which will showcase the winners of the fair's shows and exhibitions and air conditioning the Merchant's Building. Admission to the 2023 Allen County Fair is just $10 with children 6 and under admitted for free.
Also at Monday's meeting, Joe Watson received his Paul Harris +1 pin and Dave Cockerell received his Paul Harris +2 pin. Congratulations and thank you for your generosity!