By ELIZABETH FERSZT
Contributing Writer
The annual Jackson County Fair rolled into town Sunday, Aug. 3 and continues through Saturday, Aug. 9 at the fairgrounds located downtown.
Each year the fair boasts a combination of 4-H and other agricultural and farm animal or livestock-based programming, as well as a substantial midway with traditional carnival rides such as the Himalaya, Fun Houses, and a Ferris wheel, as well as newcomers like the Skateboard where riders sit in a skateboard-like deck and go up and down a halfpipe.
Robert McArthur, age 11, of Michigan Center, won second place for Showmanship for his rabbit Hot Cocoa – “this win got me into the Sweepstakes” – he explained. The sweepstakes is a 4-H based competition between the first and second place winners in individual small animals: goats, rabbits, dogs, and chickens. He will compete and show on Friday.
Kyle Lewis, an employee of Jackson County Parks, of which the Fairgrounds is a property, was watching the Draught Horse Pulling competition (the Michigan Pony Dynamometer Association) from the grandstands on Monday. “It’s like a tractor pull with horses,” he said. Meaning that teams of two very large work horses are tasked with pulling or dragging heavy weights for certain lengths or times.
Teenagers and children enjoyed the Unlimited Rides Wristband for $32 – they could be seen having their phones scanned upon entry.
Jackson County Sheriff’s Mounted Division as well as deputies on foot are patrolling the fairgrounds.
Concessions included over 40 food vendors, such as Fiske French Fries, fresh squeezed lemonade, pizza, custom grilled cheese sandwiches, corn dogs, elote (Mexican ‘street corn’), tacos, cotton candy and candy apples, fried dill pickles and fried Oreos, pulled pork, sloppy Joe’s, cheeseburgers, and a beer tent with live entertainment.
The headliner show for the fair was a Jimmy Buffett tribute band, Gone 2 Paradise, who played on Tuesday at the fair Grandstand. Seniors 65 and older got in free on Monday; on Wednesday, First Responders and Medical Personnel got in free; Veterans got in free on Thursday; and Saturday is free for children 12 and under.
Children under the age of 18 are not allowed admission after 5 p.m. without a parent or other adult, based on Jackson County Fair Youth Policy.
Vendor space sold for $300 to $500 based on location (for example, within the Grandstand corridor, inside the New American 1 Event Center, any non-food outdoor space, or regular outside space (for food trucks and trailers).
