Fair tunes up
County star first Trumbull County Fair headliner in yearsBy RON SELAK JR. Tribune Chronicle
Article Photos
The thousands of dollars set aside to land a big-name act at the Trumbull County Fair finally are being used this year, not passed over as it has been the past two years of the agricultural exposition.
This year, the fair board booked Tracy Lawrence, using all $20,000 to lock in the singer for the fair's final night.
''I've been working off and on for the last two years to get a named act and it finally clicked with him,'' board president Richard Roscoe said.
The fair board received money specifically to bring a nationally recognized act to town as part of a court settlement. But it sat unused for two years in favor of motorized attractions such as demolition derbies and truck and tractor pulls as the feature grandstand entertainment.
The cost of booking the known entertainment was greater than the less expensive but popular roar of engines, flying mud and crashing cars, he said.
That changed this year as Roscoe said he was able to sign Lawrence for the ''very reasonable price'' of $27,500. Additionally, the board spent about $10,000 on lighting, sound, labor and food for the performance, Roscoe said.
The settlement between county commissioners and the former Trumbull Convention and Visitors Bureau in 2005 landed the fair board the $20,000 in ''bed tax'' funds. The money had been designated to be down payment for an ongoing series of musical performances.
The funds were to be placed ''into a special, reimbursable rolling fund'' to be used as ''seed money'' to help offset the cost of bringing a nationally recognized act to the fair in 2006 and beyond, if practicable, the settlement states.
Profits from the concerts staged with this money would be put back into the fund, and any money more than $20,000 could be used to renovate the grandstand, the ruling states.
But the board decided against charging additional concert admission as some other county fairs often do, and Roscoe admits there may be no seed money left to draw future big events after this year's big name.
Instead, visitors inside the grandstand area will be counted during the concert and whatever expenses were incurred by the fair that day will be subtracted from the concert-goers' combined paid admission. Money left over, if there is any, will be used to replenish the fund for a show next year or make improvements to the grandstand.
Roscoe said he's sour on the idea of selling tickets for the musical entertainment, saying it's ''too much of a headache'' and that grandstand events at the fair always have been free.
He said the $1 dollar increase for admission on Friday through Sunday of the fair was not meant as a way to help reimburse the entertainment fund. Instead, the price from $7 to $8 to to help pay for other increases like electricity, fuel and insurance.
Trumbull Common Pleas Court Magistrate Jason Earnhart helped craft the agreement while working for the Prosecutor's Office.
''I felt like, at the time, the Trumbull County fair belongs to everybody,'' Earnhart said. ''Somewhere in disbursing the money from the old bureau, it would benefit the entire county to use the money for this purpose and attract a new segment of people to the fair.''
More well-known acts would draw from outside the county, meaning people would be staying the night and eating - spending money - in Trumbull County.
''I hope the seed money bares fruit for the fair,'' Earnhart said.
Musical performances were cut from the grandstand lineup when board members realized they weren't well attended even though admission price includes grandstand entertainment. The midway was full, but the grandstand wasn't.
''What got our attention was that every motorized show the grandstand was packed,'' Roscoe said. ''People were standing around the fence.''
Rascal Flatts, before the band became a huge country music hit maker, was the last to perform in the Trumbull grandstand in 2001.
Motorized grandstand entertainment remains. Except Sunday, every night will feature car or bus racing, tractor pulls and a demolition derby.
''If you're walking down the midway eating a sandwich and hear a bunch of motors, it's like a magnet right to the grandstand,'' Roscoe said.
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pahootaman
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07-07-08 12:45 PM
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I go to the Canfield fair if I want to buy a hot tub (ever notice that?), I go to the Trumbull county fair to check out the animals and find out what happened to half the people I went to highschool did.
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autoworker
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07-06-08 2:50 PM
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what r u talking about warrenguy, the canfield fair u r charged for everything. u dont get the grand stand shows for free. thats being gouged.
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warrenguy
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07-06-08 11:02 AM
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this is not a normal fair,it is a food fair and nothing else you can walk into giant eagle and not pay a cent, at the fair you are gouged.the only fair to go to is canfield,
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