The Navajo County Fair Board voted April 7 to increase entrance fees to the upcoming county. The increases still keep the fees lower than at any other fair in the state aside from Apache County, but the board decided they were necessary in order to offset the potential shortages from state funding in the near future.
While Board President Mike Mellor suggested that gate prices for the demolition derby increase by $1, he didn’t particularly care for an increase in the price for admission to the fair. “If we lose state funding then I can see that we’ll have to increase prices, but otherwise I think we should keep it affordable,” he stated.
Board member Redgie Justman disagreed, stating that a slight increase now would be better than a substantial increase all at once. “If we increase the entry fee to $4 instead of $3, it’s still affordable and keeps us at least a dollar lower than all other county fairs except for Apache County,” she said.
The board agreed, and it was determined that the entry fee would be raised to $4 for all ages, and entry to the demolition derby would increase to $8 for adults and $4 for children, with children 6 and under attending for free. In addition, concerns over the number of individuals entering through the back gate where 4-H participants park near the arena prompted the board to add more security to that gate and charge a fee there that would include the fair entry fee as well as the event entry fee if an event is scheduled for that evening.
“In other words, if there is an event, then someone going in through that back gate will pay $12 if they’re an adult or $8 if they’re a child. If they don’t want to pay the combined price, then they drive around to the front,” explained Mellor.
It was also decided to add powder puff, compact car and open classes to the demolition derby to encourage a broader range of competition and increase participants. “Last year I think we had one or two ladies enter the derby, and I’d really like to see more get involved. It’s a lot of fun and the event is a real crowd pleaser,” stated Mellor.
In other business, Mellor explained that he is looking into having the sand in the arena changed out before the fair begins. He had hoped to have that done in May, but scheduling with the county has not been verified as of yet.
Treasurer Angela Keene informed the board that the fairgrounds had a good month for revenues in March. Between facility requests, food and beverage sales from the Tolani Lake Roping event, and stall rentals, the receipts came to approximately $23,000 for the month.
The board also decided to expand the small stock area by adding a platform in order to accommodate an additional row of cages. According to Entertainment Director Mina Henning, the Show Low 4-H group plans to enter 35 to 40 more rabbits and chickens this year, and from 20 to 25 more goats.
“We were at capacity last year, so we’ll need to expand to accommodate more. We also have more (seamstresses) entering from that group too,” she stated.
The board also approved a request made by the Bread of Life Mission to continue its contract to sell food items in one of the concession buildings during the fair.
