Dates set for 2022 fair, but financial picture is cloudy

Oct. 22—Tentative dates for the 2022 Crawford County Fair are set, but the fair's president is blunt in assessing its finances and future.

"We have got to reduce costs," Dean Maynard said. "We've got to stop the bleeding somehow or we'll not have a fair."

Maynard's frank fair-finance remarks came at Thursday night's Crawford County Fair Board meeting at the Crawford County Courthouse in Meadville.

Board members did vote 7-0 to set tentative official dates for the 2022 edition of the fair as Aug. 22-27.

Board member Ryan Smith was absent from the meeting and another seat on the nine-member board is open due to the resignation of Bill Good last month.

The board is looking to return to a shorter Monday-through-Saturday fair run as a way to control expenses.

The fair has operated on an eight-day Saturday-through-Saturday schedule since 1995 when it had its 50th anniversary. No fair was held in 2020 — in what would have been its 75th anniversary — because of the COVID-19 pandemic. A scaled-back version of the Saturday-to-Saturday fair was held this year and billed as the 75th anniversary.

While final costs for the 2021 Crawford County Fair haven't been closed out, the fair didn't make any money this year, according to Kathy Klink, the board's treasurer.

It takes about $250,000 annually to get the fair started.

The fair earns money from gate admissions and passes as well as ticket sales for major grandstand entertainment like concerts and truck and tractor pulls. Those funds then are used to make repairs and improvements to the buildings and grounds as well as fund the start-up of the following year's fair.

The nonprofit fair currently has $198,933.31 in its checking account and another $109,000.62 in savings, Klink reported. Those are the figures are around what the fair had in 2020.

Klink pointed out to the board that there still are a number of outstanding bills to be paid including $4,300 for water and sewer service, plus veterinary and ambulance service bills during the fair haven't been received.

Maynard said the annual hiring of private security during the fair costs about $50,000 each year, plus the fair pays another $6,000 to West Mead Township Police Department for its services during the fair. The fairgrounds are located in the township

Klink told the board she didn't expect the fair to break even this year even though it did receive $186,000 from the county to make up for revenue lost due to the pandemic.

In April, county commissioners and the fair board agreed to waive the fair's $5 daily admission fee for this year because there are no concerts or amusement rides due to the pandemic.

Commissioners also agreed to have the county pay for the food vendor fees for those businesses based in Crawford, Erie, Warren, Venango and Mercer counties to attract them to the fair. The amount the county would pay was estimated at $30,000.

While tentative fair dates are set for the 2022 fair, there's been no decision on the daily gate fee for next year's fair — whether it will be $5, $7 or $8 or some other amount. The daily admission fee for 2022 as well as general public and vendor weekly pass fees will be set in the coming months.

Maynard said the board also has to consider what to do about its amusement ride contract. The fair is in negotiations with Powers & Thomas Midway Entertainment. It has three years remaining on the contract at a cost of $130,000 each year. The fair's contract with Powers & Thomas was suspended both in 2020 and this year by mutual agreement because of the pandemic.

"This is a tipping point for us," Maynard said of the fair's need to cut costs moving forward. "Everybody makes money off the Crawford County Fair, but not the Crawford County Fair."

Keith Gushard can be reached at (814) 724-6370 or by email at kgushard@meadvilletribune.com.