Northern Wyoming News - Serving the Big Horn Basin for over 100 years

WORLAND – The Washakie County Fair Board met Monday night to discuss the successes and failures of the 2019 Washakie County Fair.

With the fair having just finished about two weeks ago, the board finalized bills and decided to discuss what they believe should be implemented next year to enhance the experience of the 2020 fair. Final figures from the paid fair events likely will not be available until all of the bills and entry fees are finalized.

One of the main talking points was moving entertainment to either earlier in the evening, or reducing the amount of nights that musical entertainment is offered from six down to about three, as well as not bringing in as much out-of-town entertainment and possibly keeping local entertainment as a focal point.

The amount of traffic throughout all of fair week was encouraging, and the board discussed possible changes regarding bringing in different entertainment or competitions to give more of a variety for the community to participate in.

Another point of emphasis was to make it prominent that all fair entry registrations will be done online next year, and this would be the last year for most handwritten entries.

There were some complaints regarding alleged animal cruelty from some fair participants, but there is nothing that addresses cruelty complaints or concerns in the fair book. Discussions are set to begin in order to determine a punishment regarding cruelty to animals witnessed during the fair including possible disqualification from future fairs after a certain number of offenses.

Parking again was a large topic of discussion, as problems again arose from people parking in places that restricted access or blocked in other vehicles, or entering through the wrong gate.

Other discussion included:

•Changing the time at which exhibits can be taken home, especially open class shows. A suggestion was made to make it earlier in the day to cause less conflict with people removing items that are not theirs prior to the pickup period even beginning.

•Establishing a rule that an animal may not change market/weight classes after it has been weighed and registered in a certain class.

•Changing how participants must clean out their pens or holding areas prior to being able to fully be discharged from the fair, including a possibility of an inspection and approval from a member or superintendent prior to the exhibitor being allowed to leave with his/her animal.

•Rewarding the best exhibitor who kept their pen the cleanest, and make sure it goes to the proper person who kept their pen clean and did it the proper way, disposing of their waste and products in the right location.

The possibility of bringing in other forms of entertainment that are not just rodeos to the arena at night was discussed and may be looked in to in the coming year, even though the board felt as if the stands were filled to capacity most nights for the rodeos.

The fair board meets the second Monday of every month at 7 p.m. at the fairgrounds.