AUGUST 10-17, 2024
By Michele Gillis
This year, the Washington County Agricultural Fair organizers decided to mix things up.
Instead of a headliner music act on Sunday evening, the fair organizers are bringing back something to the Sunday evening entertainment line-up that will make a lot of folks happy — a rodeo presented by Diversified Energy.
Get out your cowboy hats, boots and spurs so you are ready to attend one or both of the rodeo performances at the fair on Aug. 11.
“There’s one scheduled for 2 p.m. in the afternoon,” Wayne Hunnell, Washington County Agricultural Fair Board secretary. “Then the next is at 7 p.m. that evening. We just wanted to make a change so we aren’t always doing the same thing every year on the same dates and things like that. We’ve had several folks attending the fair over the last couple of years ask about why we haven’t had a rodeo. We had one years ago, and it did well. And then it just kind of got changed off, and we hadn’t had it back for several years.”
Hunnell said part of the reason was that one of the neighboring fairs also had rodeos, and they didn’t want to continue infringing on what they were doing.
Buckeye Rodeo Company provides bareback bronc riding, bull riding, steer wrestling, calf roping, saddle bronc riding, cowgirl’s barrel racing and girl’s breakaway calf and team roping in their rodeo shows.
“So there will be various events,” said Hunnell. “The main part of it will be the bronc riding and the bull riding. Our understanding is that it’s going to be a lot of fun. The good news is that where some of the other rodeos are now located, that we have a good opportunity of getting a number of good riders coming through as they’re headed from the East Coast towards the Midwest.”
The precise number of riders is yet to be determined, but Hunnell is optimistic.
“We’re expecting a pretty good performance and turnout of riders,” he said. “We don’t really know what that number
is because it depends on who shows up, signs up and so forth. This is early planning stages right now. We won’t even know until a week before the actual rodeo takes place how many are actually going to be riding. Buckeye Rodeo is out of Ohio, and this is what they do. They have their own livestock that they bring in, and they set everything up.”
Hunnell said that Buckeye Rodeo is familiar with the fair schedule, so when they approached them about having a rodeo here, they thought it was an ideal time and it was the right place to pick up a number of the higher-end riders.
“Now the locals will also be able to ride in the rodeo, and if local kids want to participate in the games, they can,” said Hunnell.
If you are an early riser and want to see some early afternoon action, come to the fair around 10 a.m. on Sunday or 11 a.m. on Monday to see the harness racing.
Hunnell said they do it every year, but the days they do it change yearly.
Because the western side of Pennsylvania has one of the largest horse populations, the fair is in the process of developing and designing an equestrian center that will be able to hold rodeos and almost every type of equestrian event, such as keyhole.
The three biggest draws to the fair include the demolition derby on the first Saturday, the school bus demolition derby on Wednesday and another demolition derby on the last Friday night.
Other entertainment events at the fair include nightly music entertainment in the show tent, except for the first Saturday evening.
The fair officially opens at 9 a.m. on Aug. 10, with many planned events. Opening ceremonies will be held at 6 p.m. on Saturday, followed by the Fair Queen contest.
Local musical entertainment throughout the week will include Oldies Show on Tour, Good Karma, A.C. Resistors, Scott Blasey (lead singer of The Clark’s), Ruff Creek, Joey Adams and Bon Journey.
The fair board works with the 4-H clubs to run the agricultural side of the fair, which includes space for market livestock to be seen and auctioned off on Friday and Saturday.
“Those animals would get auctioned off with the proceeds mostly going to those exhibitors or kids unless the buyer wants to donate it back to the 4-H Scholarship Fund or back to the Washington County Fair organization, which is a 501(c)(3) organization,” said Hunnell. Daily attractions include magic shows, Stone Age show and a petting zoo. Other events throughout the week include baking contests, tractor pulls, steer shows, classic car shows, the market hog show, senior citizen activities, tractor driving contest, 4-H horse and pony show, mullet hairstyle contest, hay hauling, dairy goat show, market livestock sale and more.
For more information about the fair and a list of events, please visit washingtonfair.org.
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By Michele Gillis
The Washington County Agricultural Fair board was interested in investigating more than just the fair’s revenue but also how the fair benefits the county overall.
“An economic impact study done by Washington Tourism,” said Wayne Hunnell, Washington County Agricultural Fair Board secretary. “And that study showed that for the eight days of the fair, the economic impact to the county was $6.7 million.”
Hunnell said that amount was not based on the fair’s income but on the impact of bringing people in to work at the fair, people coming to the fair and people traveling into the county for the fair.
“We hire part-time employees to supplement for the fair,” said Hunnell. “There are people that we house in hotels. So we’re spending money on hotels in the county and people traveling into the county for a variety of reasons coming to the fair, so they calculate what they call that economic impact for all of that.”
The fair’s economic impact touches everyone in the county and the surrounding areas, whether it’s the restaurants, hotels or the vendors at the fair.
“The people traveling through the county may be spending money on fuel or other things.”
To create that economic impact, the fairgrounds needed to continue making capital improvements so that people would continue to come to the fair each year. But does the money come from the fair?
“Very little of it, actually,” said Hunnell. “Almost all of the capital improvements on the fairgrounds come from sponsorships or grants. We got a grant from EQT Foundation for $150,000, and that’s what kind of started to kick off some of the overall improvements that we’re seeing now. We used that money to completely redo the face of the fair that faces Main Street.”
Hunnell said improvements started last year continue through this year fair, so attendees will be in for a treat this year.
He said they took down the old cyclone fence, put up new black posts and a new black rail fence, and installed a stone entranceway.
“We were able to put a block wall along what we call Arden Mine Road, a 240-foot wall that comes from the corner of our front property up to the end of the first building and a black chain-link fence on that,” said Hunnell. “That was all monies that we received
from the grant from the EQT Foundation. And then, we get other grant monies as well as a lot of other sponsorships. And those are the monies that are used to make most all of the improvements in the fair.”
The bulk of the fair’s revenue is consumed by the daily operating costs of maintaining the fairgrounds.
Hunnell said they handle all of the building maintenance, including painting the various buildings, making necessary repairs and maintaining the lawn on the fairgrounds.
Many companies will sponsor specific capital improvements for naming rights.
“So, for example, the Washington Auto Mall and CNX have multi-year agreements with the fairgrounds, so we get monies from them every year, and we put their signs on the buildings that face Main Street,” said Hunnell. “Dollar Bank will be sponsoring the concert series this year.”
Hunnell said there is still time to sponsor items or events at the fair if a company or person is interested.
Another way the fairground can do its capital improvements is by applying for grants through various foundations.
Some of the improvements that have been made with grants include a complete renovation of the draft horse barn, which
is the oldest building on the grounds, other than the John White House, which is a historic building that sits near the front entrance. The barn renovation began last year and the second phase wraps up this year.
“The draft horse barn was built in the ‘40s, so it would be 78 years old or so,” said Hunnell. “And we completely renovated and painted it. It almost looks like a new building. There was a building sitting next to that that had not been used in over 15 years. We re-did it, completely re-roofed it, re-sided it, re-did the interior and made it into restrooms. On the side of that building, EQT then paid an additional amount of funding to have a large mural painted on the whole side of the building.”
Right across from that mural is the memorial plaza, where interested parties can buy a brick engraved with a name or any other message. Hunnell said he has sold close to 200 bricks, but he they could still sell another 300 before the plaza fills up.
“I can have it engraved with whatever they want to say,” said Hunnell. “And then I take it out, pull a brick out and put the engraved one in its place.”
So when you come into that front entrance now, the grounds look entirely different.
“It looks updated. The buildings look better, like the plazas and so forth in there,” Hunnell said. “And as a result, we’ve had a lot of people commenting that they go some of the other fairs, but with the capital improvements in the way our fair is looking, we’re able to keep it upgraded and improved. Where some of the other fairs they go to, they’re seeing the buildings in a little more deteriorated state. Most fairs, if we relied upon the money that the fair made, you can’t afford to do all that. We have all these buildings that we rent out year-round and generate additional revenue as well.”
The fair is only eight days a year. According to Hunnell, the attendance for the fair last year was just over 65,000 people. But, he said throughout the year, they rented the buildings and the other facilities, and the number attending those events was higher than the number coming to the fair, which was about another 76,000-79,000.
“So we had, in total, approximately 130,000 coming into the fairgrounds over the year,” said Hunnell. “65,000 of that was the fair.”
Even though they have made some critical improvements, they will continue to make more as funds become available. Hunnell said they are continuing to renovate and paint some of the older buildings, trying to get everything back into shape and submitting grant applications to obtain grant money to renovate additional structures, such as barns they would like to replace.
Hall One is the largest building at the fairgrounds that generates revenue. Hunnell said it is booked almost every weekend but needs to be renovated.
“We just obtained some grant money to renovate that hall and upgrade it,” said Hunnell. “We’re going to redo the restrooms and then ultimately a new roof. It does not have air conditioning, and the intent is ultimately to install air conditioning.”
How will that affect the busy use of the building during the renovations?
“There will be a period where we lose a little bit of revenue,” he said. “When we’re changing out the roof, obviously, I won’t be able to hold events. And so there may be a week or so that I cannot do anything in that building while they redo the roof.”
The restroom project is going to be a little different.
“Because we’re going to add on to the building for the restrooms,” said Hunnell. “There are restrooms there, but we’re going to build new restrooms on the opposite side of the building. And so it won’t interfere. We’ll still have functioning restrooms and everything while we’re building that new section of the building with restrooms. Once the new restrooms are done, we’ll close the old ones down and redo that side of the building. And so we’ve got the grant money to do that.”
Hunnell explained that the fair can apply for grants in many places, including the state and local governments and marketing and tourism groups.
Another improvement that was made was to add a digital billboard at the entrance of the fairgrounds.
“We can advertise on a variety of these other events that are held here,” said Hunnell. “During the week leading up to the fair, we could put every day, all eight days, what the major events are for all eight days, and it rotates through.”
With all of these upgrades and renovations, the fair can continue its primary mission of promoting agriculture.
“The fair brings education and the continued effort of trying to promote agriculture,” said Hunnell. “Doing the fair with all the 4-H kids, promoting agriculture, having them raise animals and so forth and various projects. Our mission is really promoting and educating the agricultural side.”
FRIDAY, AUGUST 9
............ 4:00 PM ...... Judging in the Halls
H2 ....... 4:00 PM ...... Bake Sale
SATURDAY, AUGUST 10
RANGE RESOURCES DAY
9:00AM – 2023 FAIR OPENS
GS ....... 9:00 AM ...... Lawn & Garden Tractor Pull
ST ..... 10:00 AM ...... Junior Baking Contest
ST ..... 10:30 AM ...... Crock Pot Contest
ST ..... 11:00 AM ...... Homemade Chocolate Cake Contest
ST ..... 11:30 AM ...... Angel Food Cake Contest
ST ..... 12:00 PM ...... Blue Ribbon Apple Pie Contest
SA 1:00 PM Pedal Power Tractor Pull
H3 ...... 1:00 PM ...... Rock N Roll Pet Kids Show
H2 ...... 1:00 PM ...... Fleece to Shawl (3 hrs.)
ST ....... 2:00 PM ...... The Magic Jamie Show
ST ....... 4;00 PM ...... The Magic Jamie Show
ST 5:30 PM Rock N Roll Pet Kids Show
ST ........ 6:00PM ...... Opening of the 2024 Fair
ST ....... 6:30 PM ...... Fleece to Shawl Auction
ST .... 7:00 PM .... FAIR QUEEN CONTEST
SA ....... 7:00 PM ...... Corn Hole Tournament
GS .... 7:00 PM .... DEMOLITION DERBY
H3 ...... 8:00 PM ...... Rock N Roll Pet Kids Show
SUNDAY, AUGUST 11
HAPCHUK, INC. DAY
GS ..... 10:00 AM ...... Harness Racing
ST 11:00 AM Church Service
SA ..... 11:30 AM ...... Boer Goat Show
ST ..... 12:00 PM ...... The Magic Jamie Show
ST ........ 1:00 PM ...... Babies on Parade- Theme “Snowmen”
SA ....... 1:00 PM ...... Pets on Parade
GS 2:00 PM Rodeo - Diversified Energy
GS ....... 2:00 PM ...... Antique/Classic Car Show
ST ....... 2:00 PM ...... Meet the 2024 Fair Queen
SA ....... 3:00 PM ...... Market Goat Show
ST ....... 3:00 PM ...... Stone Age Show
ST ....... 5:00 PM ...... The Magic Jamie Show
H3 ...... 5:30 PM ...... Rock N Roll Pet Kids Show
GS .... 7:00 PM .... RODEO – DIVERSIFIED ENERGY
SA ....... 7:00 PM ...... Horse & Pony Pull
ST .... 7:00 PM .... OLDIE SHOW ON TOUR
H3 7:30 PM Rock N Roll Pet Kids Show
KEY
GS ...... GRANDSTAND
ST ...... NADENE GARDNER SHOW TENT
SA ...... CNX HARRY HANK SHOW ARENA
H2 ..... HALL 2
H4 ..... HALL 4
H5 ..... RABBIT HALL
DAILY ATTRACTIONS
MAGIC SHOW • STONE AGE SHOW • PETTING ZOO
MONDAY, AUGUST 12
BIONI INDUSTRIES DAY • SENIOR DAY - $5.00
PL ........ 9:00 AM ...... Tractor Driving Contest
H5 ....... 9:00 AM ...... Open & Jr. Rabbit Show
GS ..... 11:00 AM ...... Harness Racing
H2 11:00 AM Spinning Contest
ST ..... 11:00 AM ...... Senior Citizen Activities
ST ....... 1:00 PM ...... The Magic Jamie Show
ST ........ 3:30PM ...... Stone Age Show
SA ....... 4:00 PM ...... Market Hog Show
H3 4:30 PM Rock N Roll Pet Kids Show
ST ....... 5:00 PM ...... The Magic Jamie Show
ST ....... 6:30 PM ...... Stone Age Show
GS .... 7:00 PM .... PRO STOCK TRACTORS & HOT SEMIS
ST .... 7:30 PM .... A.C. RESISTORS
H3 7 :30 PM Rock N Roll Pet Kids Show
TUESDAY, AUGUST 13
LOG CABIN FENCE DAY • VETERANS DAY - $5.00
SA ........ 8-9 AM ...... Market Rabbit Weigh in
SA ....... 9:00 AM ...... 4H Meat Rabbit Pens & Showmanship
SA 9:00 AM Beef Cattle Open & Junior
4-HB . 12:00 PM ...... Poultry Photo Showmanship
ST ....... 1:30 PM ...... The Magic Jamie Show
SA ....... 2:00 PM ...... Prospect Steer & Heifer Show
ST ....... 3:00 PM ...... Stone Age Show
H3 4:30 PM Rock N Roll Pet Kids Show
ST ....... 5:00 PM ...... The Magic Jamie Show
SA ....... 6:00 PM ...... Market Steer Show
ST ....... 6:30 PM ...... Stone Age Show
GS .... 7:00 PM .... MOTOCROSS
ST .... 7:30 PM .... GOOD KARMA
H3 ...... 7:30 PM ...... Rock N Roll Pet Kids Show
SA 8:30 PM Old Timers Showmanship
WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 14
ATI DAY
SA ....... 9:00 AM ...... Draft Horse Halter Classes & Mules
Light Horse & Pony Halter Classes
Miniature Burro & Mini Donkey, Sr. Showmanship
SA ........ 9:30AM ...... Junior Dairy Clipping
SA ..... 11:00 AM ...... Under 8 Kiddie Dairy Showmanship
ST ...... 11:30 AM ...... The Magic Jamie Show
SA ..... 12:00 PM ...... 4-H & FFA Dairy Showmanship
H3 1:30 PM Rock N Roll Pet Kids Show
ST ........ 2:30 PM ...... Stone Age Show
H3 3:00 PM Rock N Roll Pet Kids Show
GS ....... 4:00 PM ...... Cheerleading Exhibition
ST 4:30 PM The Magic Jamie Show
SA ....... 5:00 PM ...... Market Lamb Show
GS 6:00 PM Senior High Bands
H3 ....... 7:30 PM ...... Rock N Roll Pet Kids Show
ST ..... 8:00 PM ..... SCOTT BLASEY - CLARK’S LEAD SINGER
GS ..... 8:00 PM ..... SCHOOL BUS DEMOLITION DERBY
THURSDAY, AUGUST 15
EQT CORPORATION DAY
CHILDREN 12 & UNDER $5.00 ADMISSION ALL DAY
SA ....... 9:00 AM ...... Breeding Sheep Open & Junior
GS ....... 9:00 AM ...... 4-H Horse & Pony Show
SA ....... 9:00 AM ...... Dairy Show
LC ...... 10:00 AM ...... Stockman Contest – Log Cabin Display
ST ...... 12:00 PM ...... The Magic Jamie Show
SA ....... 2:00 PM ...... Lead Line Contest
ST ........ 2:30 PM ...... Stone Age Show
ST ........ 4:30 PM ...... 4-H Benefit Auction
H3 ....... 5:00 PM ...... Rock N Roll Pet Kids Show
SA ....... 5:00 PM ...... Premiere Showmanship Contest
ST 6:30 PM Mullet Hairstyle Contest
GS ..... 7:00 PM ..... KOI DRAG RACING
H3 7:30 PM Rock N Roll Pet Kids Show
ST ..... 7:30 PM ..... RUFF CREEK
SA 7:00 PM Hay Hauling
ST 9:00 PM The Magic Jamie Show
FRIDAY, AUGUST 16
TARR CONCRETE DAY / MURPHY FAMILY INC. DAY
GS ....... 9:00 AM ...... 4-H Horse & Pony Show
SA ....... 9:00 AM ...... Dairy Goat Show
ST ...... 10:00 AM ...... 4-H Modeling Contest
ST ...... 12:00 PM ...... The Magic Jamie Show
SA ....... 1:00 PM ...... Animals on Hoof Dressing
ST 2:30 PM Stone Age Show
ST ........ 4:00 PM ...... The Magic Jamie Show
H3 4:30 PM Rock N Roll Pet Kids Show
ST ........ 5:30 PM ...... Royal Princess Engagement
SA 6:00 PM Market Livestock Sale ~ Goats, Rabbits
ST ........ 6:30 PM ...... Stone Age Show
GS ..... 7:00 PM ..... DEMOLITION DERBY
H3 ....... 7:30 PM ...... Rock N Roll Pet Kids Show
ST ..... 7:30 PM ..... JOEY ADAMS
SATURDAY, AUGUST 17
WASTE MANAGEMENT DAY
GS ....... 9:00 AM ...... Farm Tractor Pull
SA ..... 10:00 AM ...... Market Livestock Sale – Hogs, Steers, Lambs
ST ...... 11:00 PM ...... Stone Age Show
ST ...... 12:00 PM ...... The Magic Jamie Show
ST ........ 2:30 PM ...... Stone Age Show
ST ........ 4:00 PM ...... The Magic Jamie Show
H3 5:00 PM Rock N Roll Pet Kids Show
ST ..... 6:30 PM ..... BON JOURNEY
SA 6:30 PM Dairy Promotion Cheese Auction
SA ....... 7:00 PM ...... Milk Chugging
GS ..... 7:00 PM ..... STREET STOCK TRUCKS
H3 ....... 7:30 PM ...... Rock N Roll Pet Kids Show
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