Changes Afoot at the Kent County Youth Fair

The Kent County Youth Fair has been a staple of the Lowell community since 1935, but the organization is poised to see significant changes in the coming year. The annual event is preparing to move to its new location on Cascade Road in Lowell Township, and the board has been entertaining the idea of moving up the fair by a week in 2023. For 2022, the fair will remain at its current fairgrounds in the City of Lowell.

Behind the scenes, there has been some upheaval with long-time members jettisoned last fall from the board of the Kent County Youth Agricultural Association, which oversees the Kent County Youth Fair. The organization has also seen resignations in several key positions, including that of the fair manager.

It remains to be seen what, if any, impact these changes will have on the fair’s operations, but there will be at least one major difference for visitors to the 2022 fair.

Elliott’s Amusements Not Returning for 2022

For visitors, the most notable change to the fair in 2022 will be the absence of Elliott’s Amusements, which has provided the fair’s carnival for many years.

“They had the opportunity to go to a different fair where they could make 60% more,” says Bill Zaske, board president of KCYAA. “They would have liked us to move our schedule back a week.”

However, Zaske says that wasn’t a possibility since the fair has some visitors and exhibitors who start school the week after the currently scheduled fair. In fact, during its February meeting, the KCYAA board agreed to look at moving the fair up one week in 2023 to create space between the fair and the start of back-to-school activities.

For 2022, though, the fair will remain on its traditional schedule with the Kent County Youth Fair running from August 8-13, 2022. What entertainment or rides will be there remains to be seen. “It’ll look a little different,” Zaske says, adding: “Right now, I’m still pushing for a carnival.”

If a carnival isn’t secured for this summer, that could trickle down to affect annual events like Reading for Rides and Handicapable Day. There is also a concern that the departure of long-time board members and volunteers could leave other holes that will need to be filled.

Long-Time Members Off the Board

During their annual meeting last November, members of KCYAA met to vote for senior and junior directors. These individuals make up the association’s board. Nine people were nominated for five senior director positions, and long-time board members Bruce Doll and Denise Stain were not reelected to the board.

“That took me by surprise a little bit,” Zaske says. However, he also notes that the board serves at the will of the KCYAA membership, and all members are entitled to a vote.

Some in attendance during the vote had the impression that people had been recruited and were signed up as KCYAA members for the sole purpose of removing Doll and Stain from the board. These individuals, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, noted there was a larger than normal attendance.

Zaske pushed back on that assertation saying that the annual meeting usually attracts 50-65 members, and 75 were in attendance for the 2021 meeting.

When contacted by Lowell’s First Look, Doll said he didn’t know why he had been voted off the board but that after devoting years to the fair, the decision hurt him deeply.

At the November 2021 board meeting, Doll read a statement saying he would no longer be a fair volunteer. Within his statement, he expressed concern about a lack of support from the board and bullying behavior. He also implied that he may have been targeted for removal because of his friendship with former fair manager Jessica Marks.

Other Personnel Changes at the Fair

Marks told the board of her decision to resign last summer, but she agreed to remain on through the end of the fiscal year. She says she’s had concerns about the direction of the fair in recent years, and her resignation was prompted by a decision to release livestock at 6pm on the Saturday of fair week.

“We spent 15 years building up a Saturday following,” she says. Her worry was that people would see animals leaving the fairgrounds and believe the fair was over.

The decision to release animals early was due to safety concerns, according to Zaske. He also says that while he understands the departure of animals could create the perception that the fair is over, Saturday night in 2021 was the fair’s best day ever in terms of attendance and revenue.

For now, board member Morgan Doyle has taken over the role of interim executive director although it is unclear how long she will remain in both positions. The fair’s conflict of interest policy states, “fair employees will not serve on the association board or as a superintendent nor will more than one immediate family member serve on the fair board.” An email to Doyle requesting an interview for this story was not returned.

Regardless of why they were not voted back on the board, the departure of Doll and Stain means the fair will need to find new volunteers to fill key roles. Doll coordinated entertainment, sponsorships and advertising, among other things. Stain was in charge of marketing, including development of the annual theme and printed materials.

In recent months, others have also resigned from their positions with the fair. These include the still exhibit superintendent Suzanne Doll, sweepstakes superintendent Maruszka Hufstader and board member Duane Watson, who coordinated camping and parking for fair week. Zaske says other board members and volunteers are stepping up to fill many of these roles.

Concern that Fair Will Be Placed on the Back Burner

Underlying many of the conversations Lowell’s First Look had with people familiar with fair operations was a concern that the fair was becoming less important to the KCYAA. They point to the branding of the new fairgrounds as the Grand Agricultural Center of West Michigan as evidence of a shift in the organization’s focus. They also worry that adequate space has not been allocated on the new property for a carnival midway and other fair-centric activities.

What’s more, some question whether the new fairgrounds, which were originally planned to open in 2020, will be ready next year. At the February board meeting, members of the construction committee pleaded with board members for the ability to make decisions quickly.

“This team is perfectly capable of making decisions on their own,” said committee member Mark Anderson. He noted that members had extensive experience in both construction and project management. Another member of the committee warned that unless they were able to make decisions quickly, they could lose the 2022 construction season. Complicating matters is a decision by an engineering firm to step away from the project which could add delays.

Zaske says the board is working on a way to respond more nimbly to requests from the construction committee and agreed with their sense of urgency. “We need to be moving dirt this spring to be [on the fairgrounds] by 2023,” he notes.

Overall, though, Zaske strikes a note of optimism when talking about the fair. Despite everything swirling in the background, he is enthusiastic about the future, saying: “It’s a really exciting time.”