Fair board readies for 2013 PEF

New signing for the Palouse Empire Fair’s unofficial field parking lot and designated smoking area will be on the things-to-do list in the final weeks approaching the fair. The sign projects were among topics discussed at the fair board’s July 22 session in the fair’s community building.

Fair Manager Bob Reynolds said the crew also plans to attempt to shut down the little-used south entry gate to the fairground. The south gate has been located near the former fair office building on the side of the grounds near Highway 26.

Key use of the south gate over the years was as a connector between the horse barn corner of the fairgrounds and the main part of the fair.

Members of the Colfax Rotary club for years have manned the fair’s main entrance gate, located north of the grandstand and across from the main parking lot. Rotary members have also been assigned to the south gate which has had a drop in use in recent years.

Reynolds said he believes the addition of a warm-up riding area at the south side of the arena has discouraged use of the south gate.

He hopes some of the Rotary members can be used instead to man the fair’s access gate on the cutoff road on the west side of the grounds.

The fair’s chief traffic control problem on the west side of the grounds is use of the field on the west side of the road, site of the fair’s Labor Day threshing bee, as an unofficial parking lot.

“It’s a mess,” board member Chad Startin noted at the board meeting.

Main concern for the fair is the possible fire danger of the field.

The space is used to park livestock trailers and trucks, but during past editions of the fair, it has unofficially accommodated campers and cars.

Use of the field by campers is part of a fair’s problem of finding space for the camper trailers and tents used by fair participants. The fair’s regular RV area is again booked solid for this year. Last year the fair introduced a plan to organize parking spaces in the horse barn area and that will be upgraded this year.

Barbecues and even camp fires have been in use in the harvested threshing bee field during past editions of the fair.

Fair directors decided last week to post the lot with some type of sign to limit the lot to “trucks and trailers only.”

Many of the trailers parked in the field are used by exhibitors to store feed and supplies for animals which are housed in the fair building on the opposite side of the road.

Startin noted obtaining insurance coverage for the lot has been a problem in recent years. The field is actually leased from the Ousley family by the Palouse Empire Fair Threshing Bee Association and is not officially part of the fair. That arrangement means the fair cannot arrange for coverage under the county’s umbrella coverage policy.

Startin pointed out the fair foundation provides for the insurance coverage for the threshing bee.

Fair directors last week also discussed ways to improve traffic flow for exhibitors during animal entry day at the fair. The aim will be to better direct exhibitors to the respective entry points for different animals. Main snag of the process has been exhibitors who discover they are in the wrong line.

Reynolds last week received approval from the fair board to establish designated smoking areas at the grounds. The signs for the areas will be provided by the county health department. Reynolds pointed out the fair already complies with state regulations for smoking, and the designated areas will be an addition to those measures.