Volunteers are what keep Chase County Fair at the top

It seems redundant each year to say it was another great fair. Fair board members report that numbers were good and the fairgrounds had thousands of people there.
    When you spend as much time on the grounds, covering so many Chase County Fair events like our staff does each year, we know it’s true because we witness it. It still amazes me after so many years at this job, how this event stays the envy of other county fairs year after year after year.
        I’m a big promoter of volunteering in our community, and that’s where this success starts. Like many successful community events, it takes a load of volunteers who are willing to give their time to make the Chase County Fair the success it is.
        From a dedicated fair board, to all of the 4-H show volunteers, workers at the information booth, so many organization members working on their booth or entry in the parade—that’s why we have the fair we do.
    We had a couple of new events at this year’s fair, specifically axe throwing and a dog pulling contest. Despite an already packed schedule, both coordinators of those new events had a huge response. Kendall Teichmeier, who brought his mobile axe throwing unit here from Broken Bow, had over 400 people step up and try a toss or two. He told me he was floored with the response here and will be back next year. Marcie Kelley organized the new dog pulling contest, at which 20 animals competed, another great showing for the first year.
    So many other annual fair events, I’d say most of them at this point, saw participation numbers up considerably this year. That’s due to good planning and organization, with a little help from the fact COVID is far behind us now.
    I’ll admit, when we face extreme heat like we usually do here in mid-August and especially this year, we all get stressed at times. Yet, those who wear the volunteer hat  most often just put that aside and just do what needs to get done. Great job again, volunteers! You made our successful county fair happen once more. People are already talking about 2023.