Association of Iowa Fairs - www.IowaFairs.com

North Iowa Fair Seeking General Manager	May 4th, 2008
The North Iowa Fair Association in Mason City is seeking a General Manager. Interested persons are asked to contact the North Iowa Fair office for further details. Contact the office at 641-423-3811 or email at info@northiowafair.org.

Central Iowa Fair Needs Your Input

January 22nd, 2008

We have currently increased our rental prices for the Buildings and grounds.

Can anyone or everyone please share a copy of your contact with me. Either e-mail to: cifa@pcpartner.net or fax to 641-753-3671.

Some questions I would like to know are:

Cost of covered arena? (What does this include)

Cost of outside arena? (What does this include)

Do you have a horse warm up area besides either of the arenas? Is there a charge?

Do you have horse stalls? How many? Price per day and Price per weekend?

Do you charge a Jump out fee? If so, how much? (Does your maintenance person clean up after the event or do the event people clean up their own manure?)

Do you have someone from maintenance working all weekend?

Do you have a camping/electrical charge?

Do you charge for vendors? (i.e. Food trailer pulls in and hooks up to electric)

Are the event people able to use the grounds tractor?

I'm needing this information as soon as possible. Any help from other areas would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you!

Tammie Hanson, Office Manager
Central Iowa Fair
1308 E. Olive
Marshalltown, IA 50158
Phone/Fax: 641-753-3671

2007 Conference Review

December 21st, 2007

Cresco, IA: The Association of Iowa Fairs enjoyed typical winter weather and another near record turnout for its 2007 Conference and Annual Meeting held on December 7, 8 and 9, at the Holiday Inn Airport in Des Moines.

A large contingent of representatives from the 107 fairs in Iowa, plus representatives of the 150 plus associate members converged onto the Conference Center for a weekend of learning, sharing and fun. Preliminary registration figures showed just at 1,400 people registered for the Conference.

Spouse’s activity on Friday afternoon included a tour of the Metro Market and the South Union Bread Company and a visit to the Joie De Vie Tea Salon. The opening business meeting of the Association was held on Friday afternoon, as well as I.A.F.E. (International Association of Fairs & Expositions) sponsored workshop immediately after the AIF’s opening business meeting. Dave Taylor, Manager of the Western Fair in London, Ontario, presented “Is It Time to Re-Package, Re-Market, and Rejuvenate Your Fair”. Dave’s presentation proved to be one of the highlights of Conference, as evidenced by the enthusiastic response from a full room of attendees.

Two seminars were held Friday afternoon after the IAFE workshop. They included “Building to Meet Your Fairs’ Needs” presented by Chuck and Chip Overton, AIA, Keffer Overton Architects, Des Moines; and “New Faces in New Places and Tossed Salad” moderated by AIF directors.

The “Partlow Reception” was held Friday early evening for all members of the Association, which was followed by the Awards Banquet. Awards presented at the banquet included the “Fairman of the Year” award, which was presented to Roger Ahrenholtz, of the Shelby County Fair, and the “Leo Overland Memorial Showman of the Year” award which was presented to J&M Displays and Flashing Thunder Fireworks. Two Iowa youth were each presented with 00 college scholarships, courtesy of Staats Custom Awards of Mt. Pleasant Iowa, and the Association of Iowa Fairs. They were Danielle Holmes of Lu Verne and Joe Catanzareti of Mt Ayr.

2007 inductees into the Association’s Hall of Fame included Richard Frye (posthumously) of Independence, for his dedication to the Buchanan County Fair; and Fred & Ila Mae Fenchel of Fred T Fenchel Entertainment Agency in Mason City.

“Blue Ribbon Fair” awards were also presented at the banquet. These went to the O’Brien County Fair, Primghar; Wright County Fair, Eagle Grove; Linn County Fair, Central City; Taylor County Fair, Bedford; Marion County Fair, Knoxville and Iowa County Fair, Marengo. This award is present to one fair in each of the six fair districts in Iowa each year. The fair must have shown progress in providing service to the 4-H and FFA programs in their community, plus show distinguished service to the community in both fair and non-fair areas.

The Saturday schedule was packed with seminars, workshops and the ever-popular entertainment showcase. Saturday workshops and seminars included “RAGBRAI, the Method Behind the Madness” moderated by T.J. Juskiewicz, Director of RAGBRAI; “Tossed Salad” moderated by Association Directors; “Getting Youth More Involved in Your Fair” presented by members of State 4-H Council, “Youth Fair Boards” moderated Fred Jenkins, Wapello County Regional Fair, Eldon, Mike Bradley & Tom Wolfe, Elroy Fair, Elroy Wisconsin; ; Advertising & Marketing Your Fair” presented by Candice Nash-Farrer, Plymouth County Fair. “Social & Charitable Gaming & Food Service, Licensing & Regulations” presented by Sherri Hopkins & Beverly Zylstra of the Iowa Department of Inspections and Appeals; “2008 Fair Ideas” presented by Arlette Hollister, Superintendent of Food, Iowa State Fair; “Reaching Your “Echo Boomers” presented by Stephanie Miller of Fayette, Cindy Thelke of Dows, Alex Recker of Arlington and Ryan Brinkman of Gowrie; “Emerald Ash Borer-- What it means to your Fairgrounds” presented by James Romer, I.S.U. Extension Program Specialist, and “Fairs & Food Concessions - Working Towards a Common Goal” moderated by Eric Campbell of Campbell Concessions.

Saturday evening featured the very popular “Social A’Fair and Auction”. This included a large social and supper attended by over 700 Association members. The auction had a record 140 items donated from member fairs and associates. The proceeds from the auction are used for expenses that are incurred by the Association in its efforts to secure legislation that benefits the fair industry in Iowa. This year the auction raised just over ,700.

Sunday morning started out with a church service dedicated to deceased fair board members in Iowa followed by the popular “Fairman’s Breakfast”. Following the breakfast, two panel discussions were held, one discussing livestock auctions and the other a review of the Consumer Protection Workshops that were held in Iowa in November.

Business meetings held during the Conference included the Association’s Annual Meeting, the Iowa State Agricultural Society Annual Meeting, O.A.B.A. meeting, Iowa Horse Racing Association meeting, Iowa Foundation for Agriculture Advancement meeting and AIF Associate’s meeting.

Association directors elected to the Board include Dave Hoffman of Le Mars in Plymouth County, Alan Brown of Hampton in Franklin County, Lynn Dunn of Marion in Linn County, John Straight of Logan in Harrison County, Curtis Sebolt of Cincinnati in Appanoose County, and Richard Smith of West Liberty in Muscatine County. The 2008 officers of the Association Board will find Don Cain of Delmar serving as President, Dave Hoffman of Le Mars serving as 1st Vice President, Alan Brown of Hampton serving as 2nd Vice President, and Erlene Leonard of Colfax will serve as Past President. Tom & Sue Barnes of Cresco serve as the Association’s Executive Director and Executive Secretary/Treasurer, respectively.

Iowa State Fair Board directors were also elected during the State Agricultural Society meeting, held during the Conference. Those elected as directors to the Board include Bill Neubrand of Le Mars, Don Greiman of Garner, Dave Huinker of Decorah, CW Thomas of Guthrie Center, Randy Brown of Osceola, and Bob Schlutz of Columbus Junction. Officers of the Iowa State Fair Board for 2008 will be Gary Van Aernam serving as President, Randy Brown serving as Vice President; and Jeanne Partlow serving as the Treasurer. Gary Slater is the Secretary/Manager of the Iowa State Fair.

AIF Centennial Baskets Available	December 21st, 2007
The Association of Iowa Fairs celebrated its 100th year of service to the Fair industry in Iowa in 2007. The AIF currently has commemorative baskets available. Cost is 50 dollars each, plus 10 dollars S&H. Contact the AIF for further information.

2008 Conference & Annual Meeting	December 20th, 2007
The 2008 Conference will be held on December 5 - 7 at the Holiday Inn Airport in Des Moines. Information will be sent to all AIF members in August 2008.

Iowa Public Television to Feature County Fairs

October 11th, 2007

Iowa Public Television new bi-weekly show, "The Iowa Journal", will feature County Fairs. The program will be aired Monday evening, October 15, 2007 at 6:30 p.m.

The program will look at County Fairs and their impact on the economy of Iowa, and what the Fairs do for the overall well being of the state.

The program can also be viewed anytime after the 15th by going to IPTV's website, www.iptv.org. Locate the programming page, and "The Iowa Journal". Find the link to the show, program #103, and click on the link to the show.

AIF Unveils New Website

November 29th, 2005

In conjunction with Lanesboro Web Management Group. The Association of Iowa Fairs announced its new and revised website located at www.iowafairs.com.

The new website is much easier to use, and offers more flexibility for updates and added features. The site will be updated on a regular basis, thereby keeping the most current information relating to all aspects of the AIF available to all who use this site.

One feature, directed to AIF fair members, will be a "Members Only" section. Each member Fair will be assigned a user id and password, giving access to this section of the website. This section will feature information related to AIF fair members only.

Look for added features, photos and other site enhancements in the future.

For more information regarding this site, or if you are interesting in contacting the site's webmaster, please send a message to the AIF and your request will be forwarded on.