SWEETWATER COUNTY – There has been a lot of rumbling among the masses about expanding the Sweetwater County Fair to two weeks. A special meeting to bring everyone to the table has been announced.
The Sweetwater County Fair Board will host a meeting on Nov. 10 at 7 p.m. at the Sweetwater County Events Complex Exhibit Hall. The single item of discussion will be the fair expansion.
Officials have been tossing around the idea of expanding the fair by a week. The first week would be free and would feature everything 4-H. The second week would be the regular fair, featuring the carnival, concerts and everything else residents have come to know.
Since the discussion has started, groups have been at odds, with the main group being the 4-H. At the most recent Sweetwater County Commission meeting, Mike Newman spoke against the expansion. Newman has been involved with the fair and with 4-H for the past 30 years.
He informed the commission there is a group within 4-H that is against the expansion. He said several of the young residents who participate in 4-H have said they like being part of fair week and are concerned the expansion would hurt the group overall.
The Red Desert Rodeo would run right between the two weeks and it was also noted the Sublette County Fair runs during the week of the proposed expansion. Newman felt these events would limit opportunities, detract from the work the children put in and would also impact the auctions.
Commission Chairman Wally Johnson said since the expansion has been brought up, the commissioners have been getting calls from many residents speaking both in favor and against the expansion.
Johnson made it clear the decision will be made by the Fair Board and the commission would stand behind whatever that decision is.
“We are not going to tell the Fair Board what to do,” Johnson said. “That decision is going to be made by that Fair Board.”
With Complex Director Larry Lloyd in attendance at the meeting, the commission stressed the importance of having a public meeting where residents on both sides would have an opportunity to voice opinions.
Commission Reid West stressed the importance of getting everyone to the table to discuss the issue and of making sure everyone involved knows about the meeting.
Johnson said he knows there is a group within the 4-H which has been against the expansion and stressed it is time for this group, which has been silent, to speak out at the meeting.
