With the Kosciusko County Community Fair less than a month away, the fair board spent much of its meeting Monday discussing the week-long event.
The 103rd Kosciusko County Fair is July 7-13 at the fairgrounds in Warsaw.
Board President Kevin Harris said the tents on the grounds are going up July 1-3. Those include the merchants tent and activities tent.
The grandstand events will include: Monday, Broken Horn Rodeo; Tuesday, monster trucks; Wednesday, a free concert by David Evans and Brittney Monroe, sponsored by Tippy Creek Winery; Thursday, a form of demolition derby involving cars playing soccer with a 6-foot soccer ball; Friday, demolition derby; and Saturday, truck pull and Show-N-Shine.
The on-grounds entertainment will include a shark encounter and tentatively a petting zoo.
Harris said Echoes of the Past will have their area, Purdue Extension will have its display in the Home & Family Arts Building, 4-H will have its general project exhibit in the Shrine Building, and 4-H also will have its showing of livestock.
Opening ceremonies will be at 6 p.m. Sunday, July 7 in the horse arena again. “It’s been really successful, and it’s really nice. It’s a really nice event. I encourage everybody to go down there and watch,” Harris said.
Board member Sarah Baier listed the events that will occur in the events center. On Monday there will be the kiddie pageants in the evenings, and Tuesday is kiddie’s day “packed full of events.” She said she’s reached out to the Fort Wayne Zoo to provide two different events with kids. Science Central is also coming out to provide hands-on activities for kids on two different days.
“I will be looking for volunteers, so if anyone knows of a youth group that is looking for a ministry, those two dates for Science Central I definitely need like 15 volunteers for like 2.5 hours,” Baier said.
On Wednesday of fair week will be senior citizens day. A barbershop quartet will sing, and Miller’s Merry Manor will be providing some events.
She said Thursday will be a slower day in the tent with Kosciusko County’s Got Talent in the evening. Friday will feature a hot dog-eating contest to coincide with the demolition derby.
On Friday and Saturday, there will be a “giant, inflatable pretty much a ‘Hungry, Hungry Hippo’ for people, so you get on this giant inflatable and get strapped into it and then you get to compete with your friends by trying to run against this bungee that’s attached to your waist and grab balls out of the center,” Baier explained of the hands-on event.
Board First Vice President Randy Shepherd said the fair’s rodeo in the past two years had the “most world-reigning champions of any other rodeo in the United States. So the rodeo we have here on Monday night is top-class rodeo, and we really need to get the word out there that this rodeo is what it is because it’s very good rodeo. The bull riding and the bronc riding is some of the best you will see.”
The Tuesday night monster truck show will have six trucks, he said, along with the “War Wagon,” “Overkill” and “Smashasaurus.”
Nathan Rhoades, fair board member, provided the fair parade route. The theme for the parade is “Red, White, Blue and Old Engines, Too.” Lineup starts at 3 p.m. July 7, with the parade beginning at 4 p.m. Sign-up sheets are available on the fair’s Facebook and web pages.
It will start in the city lot behind the Warsaw Police Department on East Fort Wayne Street. It jumps on McKinley Street, goes to East Market Street on to Bronson Street and then enters the main entrance of the fairgrounds where it will make a loop. The announcer’s stand will be in the antique area on West Drive of the fairgrounds.
Categories are 4-H, antique vehicle, float, equestrian, commercial, best of theme and club. There are no rain dates.
Harris said, “It looks like our fair for this year is going to be a pretty good fair. We have a lot of things to offer the community.”
Harris said the admission price for adults to the fair is $5, starting at 9 a.m. each day. Children 6-12 is $3, and children 5 and under are free. All the grandstand events are $10, except the Wednesday concert is free. Pit passes to the monster truck show are $15.
There is a lunch pass this year. If a person leaves before 2 p.m. each day and turn their ticket back in, their money will be refunded. It is main gate only.
The Fair Board moved its July meeting to 7 p.m. June 26 at the Shrine Building on the fairgrounds for final discussions on the fair.
The fair’s website is at https://www.kcfair.com.
