What you probably never knew...

Thursday, April 10, 2014

   We receive the same questions regarding the operations of the fairgrounds and how operation funds are received, on a regular basis. Without proper information, rumors begin, and before long the misinformation causes ill feelings. The Fowlerville Family Fair strives to create great feelings and build wonderful relationships within the community. We are YOUR fair.



 



     The Fowlerville Family Fair is operated under the direction of the Fowlerville Agricultural Society Board of Directors. The Board of Directors are elected through the general membership at the annual meeting held in the first week of November. General membership is open to any Michigan resident willing to pay $25.00 for a three year period. The Board of Directors serve a three year term without term limitations and are a group of 15 with an added position from the Livingston County 4-H that serves as a liaison and receives full voting rights. Executive Board positions are an annual term with no term limits. The Board of Directors operated under Articles of Association and has Bylaws in place.

        

 

      In Michigan there is two different kinds of fairs. One is a Michigan Act 11 of 1929 Fair. An act 11 fair is a one that operates under the direction of the county in which it is located and often times a line item is set in the county's budget to assist in operations of the fairgrounds, both off season and for fair. The fairgrounds under Act 11 is owned by the county.

     The other kind of fair is the Michigan Act 80 of 1855 Fair. This is a Agricultural or Horticultural Society that usually operates as a not for profit organization. Most often there is not county or local funds that support the fair and grounds. The fairgrounds are either owned by the society or the society rents the grounds to hold the fair. The Fowlerville Family Fair is an Act 80 of 1855 Fair, and owns the fairgrounds. In 2009 the State chose to discontinue funding for all fairs in Michigan. Most of the 88 fairs in Michigan are like the Fowlerville Family Fair and operate solely on earned income. Earned income can come from renting the facility, sponsorships/donations, fair admission and winter storage.  In 2012 the State voted to place a line item into the budget for fairs, although it is done as a competitive grant for matching funds to be utilized as capital improvements to the grounds and must benefit the community in some way.

     Not all fairs are 4-H and FFA associated. After the loss of premium monies from the state in 2009 many chose to go with an Open Fair where association to either organization was not required. Fowlerville chose to maintain their relationship with the Livingston County 4-H. With this decision the costs of having 4-H on grounds increased but the hand off is educating the youth of the county in Agriculture and Home Arts.



    What we do on an annual basis is for the community. The majority of operations are completed by volunteers whom give hundreds of hours on an annual basis and truly have the fair in their best interest.

With this week being National Volunteer Appreciation Week, 

THANK YOU TO ALL OF OUR MANY WONDERFUL VOLUNTEERS! 

YOU make this all possible, and are irreplaceable.

Ladies Day 2012 - National Anthem Observance

 

 

Check back soon. Great things to come!

Find Your Happy in 101 Days!

The Beginning of the End - April 4, 2014

The Beginning of the End
Friday, April 4, 2014

Pre-Fair is always the most stressful within this industry.  We have more deadlines than anyone could ever imagine, and they are set so far out of the fair week that sometimes it becomes difficult to get into that mode.  That is if you do not live, eat and breath everything fair. For those of us that do, every week can be a fair week. It is what we strive so hard for all year and our worlds practically revolve around the fair. This happens throughout the globe The fair name may change and the faces are different, possibly and likely different times of the year, but at heart we are all the same.

To give a peek into our world and to allow you to see what it takes in the day to day struggles and achievements of working and managing the Fowlerville Family Fair.

We begin planning for fair before the current fair is even over. Deadlines begin in November for the following year. The majority of entertainment is booked and contracts signed before the end of January. Vendor contracts are all reviewed and mailed out the last week of January and simultaneously taxes are completed for the previous year.

February brings a team of sponsor seeking enthusiasts, entry book revisions, and more vendor reviews. Board of Director monthly meetings are more intense and the contracts are being buttoned up. The phone calls flood the office in booking off fair events and rentals from weddings to stunt shows.

By the time March is wrapped up, the majority of the calendar is full with events nearly every weekend, some being private party events and some public events. The fairgrounds operates full time from April through October. April is Winter Storage removal and they return in October.

The Fowlerville Family Fair employs only one full time year round employee, and up to five seasonal part time employees that cover both the grounds and office. These employees usually begin work in May and are complete with their duties by the end of September, sometimes sooner.

I am often asked what my favorite and least favorite part of working for the fair and until recently I could only answer my favorite then I realized that they go hand in hand. My favorite is the fact that I and the many volunteers and staff create memories for thousands of people for a living. The least favorite part is that every fair every year must come to an end.

With 42 days left until the start of the 125th annual Fowlerville Family Fair, life is getting a bit stressful. We are having fun though making sure all is in place for the big event.

Camping is booked up, 4-H and open class entries are coming in steady, and entertainment is all scheduled.

The fair guide goes to press this week, and the new website is up and running! Things are falling together nicely.

We are excited to share all this with all of you. Mark you calendars! 42 days from now, where will you be? Here we hope!

Technology... ???

Well the new website has been built and loaded to the world wide web. www.fowlervillefamilyfair.com is still the domain... BUT do not take the information to heart quite yet. There are still a few things that need to be added, fixed, or nixed.
Prior to Fair week, we should have this all worked out and all should be running smoothly. If life allows technology to run parallel to the fairgrounds, well it should happen sooner... Right now we just seem to be running into many cross roads in the tech world and not just websites. Printers, computers, etc, this week have just not been happy here. Maybe next week will be better.
... so...
In the mean time please visit our Facebook page as this is usually the most up to date form of communication we have. Otherwise you are always welcome to use the old fashion telephone. We do not have automated answering service. We will have an actual human answer your questions!
Enjoy the weather, and mark your calendars, only 73 days until opening day of the 125th Fowlerville Family Fair!

Logo

The Fowlerville Fair has had several logos since the conception in 1886. The current logo was designed and began use in 1993. Although it was very creative, and nice, it has become outdated as to what we have at the fair. The Logo design currently displays a draft horse show team, several years ago the draft shows were eliminates. All this being said... It is time for a more current logo design.

Instead of the Board of Directors trying to come up with something, we have opened it to the public, as a contest. We are looking for the community to tell us in logo design, what the fair means to them. The rules are simple, the scroll and name must remain, as that has always been a part of the design. Other than that the art work is up to the designer. It can be computer generated, or hand drawn. There is no age limit. We want to see all ages, and all abilities get involved.

The winner will receive free admittance to the 2011 Fair, and currently looking for sponsors for added prizes. We would love to make sure that the designer is well recognized.

Contact the fair office for more details, and where to enter. The deadline is June 15, 2011.

Until next time...

September

I know the month is March, but I think the announcement needs to be made...

Michigan Soybean Festival!!!

That is correct, a brand new festival will be held in partnership with the Michigan Soybean Check off. The event will be held September 10-11, 2011. I will keep you updated on this exciting new adventure.

Fallen Behind

OK, so I said I was going to try to keep this a once a week thing. Well sometimes planning a fair and new festival gets in the way. So lets try this again.

We have booked some exciting and fun things for this year. Our fair schedule is coming together nicely.

In the grandstands for 2011 will be as follows: Monday July 25th Thumb Pullers, truck and tractor pulls, Tuesday, July 26th USA Demolition Derby and Figure 8, Wednesday, July 27th USA Demolition Derby (trucks) and Figure 8, Thursday, July 28th USA Enduro Races, Friday, July 29th, Lost Nations Rodeo - Bull Ride. Saturday is TBA. We are looking for the best possible thing to include in this line up.

Now on grounds the Chase's Racing Pigs are back in action! Unfortunately we had to say goodbye to Farmer John and the Barnyard Express... Hew could not meet our change of days. This is very sad, but we did find some cool fun things. First Bite Fishing will come in and show us all how its done, and we can catch real life lake fish on the fair grounds! Also Adventure Theater will show our little humans how to have fun.

There is a new add on almost daily here. I will try to keep you up to date on the happenings around the grounds.