Washita County Fair Will Happen This Year

After a great deal of deliberating and discussing, the Washita County Fair Board voted Monday evening to put on the county fair in August.

After dispensing with routine board business, board chairman Joe Thompson broached the question of putting on the fair despite the increasing spread of the COVID-19 pandemic and last week’s announced cancellation of the Oklahoma State Fair.

“In my 25 years on this board, this is the first time something’s had this much weight,” he said. “This is probably the biggest decision this board will ever have to make.” The board’s deci

The board’s decision ultimately came down to a question of maintaining more than 100 years of history and tradition while still finding a way to protect the health and safety of the fair’s participants and volunteers.

Board member Jerry Dunn proposed suspending this year’s fair in the interest of public safety. “It just takes one,” he said. “I’d rather err on the side of caution.”

Ann Worthington disagreed. “If at all possible we need to have the fair,” she said, pointing out the years of history and the excitement the fair generates for many county residents. Beckham Coun

Beckham County Oklahoma State University Extension agent Greg Hartman advised the board members to not let the decisions of other counties influence their decision.

“There’s nobody around here that has a fair like you do,” he said. “Washita County is way above neighboring fairs.”

In the end, the board voted 7-1 to continue planning this year’s Washita County Fair.

The board then discussed several methods by which they could host the fair while still complying with the recommendations of the Oklahoma Department of Agriculture, Food, and Forestry and the Centers For Disease Control. Chief among those recommendations was creating acceptable levels of social distancing during the event, which required the board to eliminate several parts of the fair.

The board voted to eliminate the flower competition from this year’s fair. They also decided to cut 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.

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.

One of the major hurdles facing the fair this year is the availability of volunteers. Dana Church, of the Washita County OSU Extension Office, told board members that her office has been prohibited from recruiting volunteers from any of the groups considered to be at higher risk from the COVID-19 virus. The higher risk population includes senior citizens, who traditionally make up the bulk of fair volunteers. The regulations, she told board members, didn’t prevent seniors from volunteering, but only prevented her office from actively recruiting the volunteers. The board will be looking for volunteers to help set-up, manage, and take down the fair during the coming weeks.

Thompson added that while the board is continuing to proceed as if the fair will go on, the situation with the pandemic is very fluid and can change at any time. Further changes in the public health and safety situation, as well as changes to local and state governments’ responses to it, can trigger changes to, or even future cancellation of, the Washita County Fair.