The Washita County Board of Commissioners accepted the decision of the county’s Fair Board to proceed with planning this year’s Washita County Fair as if it’s going to take place this year.
Fair Board member Jordan Cook attended Monday’s meeting of the Board of Commissioners to provide a report from last week’s Fair Board meeting, in which the board decided to proceed with the fair despite the increasing spread of the COVID-19 virus. After a great deal of discussion, the board decided, on a 7-1 vote, that it would be possible to hold the fair and still comply with Oklahoma Department of Agriculture, Food, and Foresty and Centers for Disease Control guidelines regarding COVID-19 containment.
In order to ensure compliance with the guidelines, however, the board had to implement a number of changes to the traditional structure of the county fair. The board voted to eliminate several competitive categories for this year’s fair, including the flower competition, the agriculture category, including wheat, grass, and cotton, as well as the antiques category. They also elimated ag mechanics, the alfalfa/hay category, the school art competition, and poultry. The board also voted to cancel the food preparation category, for both adults and youth, as the COVID guidelines prohibit food tasting. Due to a statewide ban on rabbit shows this year, the Fair Board eliminated the rabbit show. Because the same judge handles the rabbit and poultry shows, the poultry show was also canceled.
The livestock show will be held Saturday morning, Aug. 29, starting with the swine show. This year the hogs will all be combined into one category, market hogs. Entry cards, which will be available online as well as in physical cards, must be submitted by 7:30 a.m., with the show to begin at 8:00 a.m. Goats and sheep will follow, with cards due by 8:30 a.m. and the show starting at 9:00 a.m. The livestock show will end with cattle, beginning at 10:00 a.m., with cards due by 9:30 a.m.
This year’s fair will not include a petting zoo or the traditional carnival.
The board has also implemented sanitization and social distancing protocols to help mitigate any potential spread of the virus. The visiting hours will be limited this year and there will be special visiting hours for senior citizens, although the exact schedule is still to be determined. Family groups will be asked to maintain a minimum of six feet of spacing between them and other families, and visitors will be asked, but not required, to wear masks while in the building. Sanitizing stations will be set up throughout the display area and all surfaces will be disinfected and sanitized between the visiting shifts.
Cook also told the commissioners the board would cancel the fair in the event that the schools were closed at the time of the fair.
After Cook presented the changes and recommendations, the commissioners discussed the possibility of sending county road hands to the activity center to help set up the fair, as the board acknowledged the potential difficulty of recruiting their usual number of volunteers in the face of the virus. The board didn’t take any formal action, meaning the fair is set to go on as scheduled Aug. 26 to Aug. 29.