Successful ‘comeback year’ at the Floyd County Fair

IMAGES FROM THE 2021 FLOYD COUNTY FAIR

By James Grob, jgrob@charlescitypress.com

The Floyd County Fair was back, and better than ever in 2021.

“I don’t think I’ve ever seen the grandstands that full, and that trickled down to the band area,” said Kelsey Uetz of the Floyd County Fair Board. “It was great to see so many people out and about.”

Uetz was talking about the final grandstand event Saturday night, the Demolition Derby, which is always one of the more popular items at the county fair — although this year, it was doubly so, as it was necessary to bring in additional bleachers.

“We had to find more volunteers because we got so busy, which was a great problem to have,” Uetz said.

Uetz said the fair board members planned for a ton of entertainment this year, because they considered it a comeback year.

“We were well-prepared for everyone to come out, and they showed up,” she said. “We’ve gotten great feedback from everyone so far.”

The big turnout was helped by great weather — not too hot or humid — and with the exception of a stormy Wednesday, the fair was held under sunny blue skies.

The fair board has been rebuilding for the last two years, after an EF-1 tornado smashed through the fairgrounds on Memorial Day of 2019 and took down several buildings. Last year, the fair was limited by COVID-19 restrictions.

Wednesday and Thursday events included the pet and dog show, the horse show, the sheep and goat show and the rabbit show. Livestock judging took place Friday and Saturday, along with timed horse events and the kid’s pedal pull, among many other things.

Grandstand events this year included Figure 8 races on Thursday evening. Tuff Trucks on Friday and the Demolition Derby on Saturday — with fireworks to end the evening Saturday night.

Daily entertainment this year, beyond the livestock shows and 4-H and FFA events, included axe throwing, face painting, a photo booth, an illusion show, a hypnosis show, Bingo and polka bands. There was also a petting zoo and several interactive exhibits for kids of all ages, such as a paintball turkey shoot.

Jesse Allen’s musical performance scheduled for Thursday night had to be cancelled, as Allen’s band and crew broke down in St. Louis and were not able to get a rental vehicle or transportation in time for the show. Instead, music was played and a beverage garden was set up in the midway during the Figure 8 races.

Musical entertainment Friday night featured the band County Line Drive. Saturday, musical entertainment was provided by the 70s and 80s tribute band The Hype, with opening act the local group PV and the Phantoms.

“As a fair board, we want to thank everyone for coming out and pitching in to support us,” Uetz said. “The last couple years have been off, and not normal, so it’s nice to know that we have support from people, even when things don’t go right. We appreciate that.”

Uetz said the fair board will discuss whether to bring the carnival rides back next year, as the board chose to put their resources into other entertainment this year.

“The feedback from what we had this year was really positive, and we will take that into account,” she said. “We know that a lot of people do like the carnival rides, though, so we’ll discuss that.”

Reconstruction at the fairgrounds included a picnic shelter that has been erected that sits on the site where the old brick building was, and a “Little Hands on the Farm” building now sits where the old storage shed was. That building also includes two new restrooms with showers. To replace the dairy building that was destroyed by the tornado, an addition was built to the cattle/swine building.

“People were very excited about the new buildings, everyone had great things to say,” Uetz said. “Next year, with the final building complete, it will be even better.”

The new assembly hall, which will be a 104 by 60 foot structure, will stand where the old 4-H food stand was, and will branch out into the courtyard area. That building was intended to be finished in time for the fair this summer, but unfortunately, slow material deliveries (due to COVID) put the building construction behind schedule.

“We actually might have one of the best fairgrounds in the state now, with all these new buildings,” Uetz said. “It’s almost kind of a blessing in disguise.”