Dinner and auction slated for Sept. 9
The Greene County Fair Association and the Fair Foundation are moving forward with plans for new buildings at the fairgrounds, though the plans have been changed some since the fundraising began earlier this summer.
Fair board secretary Doug Hawn briefed the county board of supervisors Monday morning on plans to replace the aging barns. Rather than undertaking a large project at this time with a goal of replacing four sheep and swine barns with one 1,920 square-foot building, the board has instead decided to do a phased project. Phase One, which will be completed before the 2015 county fair, will replace two of the current dilapidated barns. One barn measuring 72’ X 135’ will replace two of the current 30’ X 120’ barns.
The biggest fundraiser for the project will be a barbecue and auction slated for Tuesday, Sept. 9, at Clover Hall at the fairgrounds. Rod Wolf is organizing the event.
Target bidders at the auction are area farmers as they purchase inputs for 2015. Several seed and chemical companies, as well as providers of ag services, have donated products and services to the Greene County Fair Foundation, a 501(c) non-profit corporation. Farmers will be invited to purchase them at auction just as they would in the marketplace, but the sale price will go to the foundation. “I’m going to buy seed anyway. If I come to the fairgrounds and buy seed, the money then goes to the fair instead of the company. I’m going to write it off as an expense just as I would any other seed I buy. It won’t affect me one way or the other,” Hawn said. “Big kudos to the companies. They’re the ones putting together a big commitment on their part.”
The building will be a steel frame building on a 2-foot stub wall. It will be large enough to provide storage for as many as 10 combines. The Foundation anticipates revenue from storage fees to help offset cost of the building. Hawn hopes to have concrete work done before winter so construction can be done during the winter.
Cost of Phase One is just short of $265,000. Hawn said the total includes the cost of demolishing the current buildings and landfill fees for the debris. He asked the supervisors to consider an in-kind donation with the secondary roads department hauling the debris to the landfill.
He also mentioned the possibility of the county as serving as the fiscal agent for an interim bank loan to allow construction to be done before fundraising is complete. The county has done so in the past.
“I don’t think you’ll have a problem with us,” was supervisor Tom Contner’s response to Hawn’s information.
