The Pulaski County 4-H and Community Fair may have to be relocated due to the recent rains and consequent flooding. County Purdue Extension Director Natalie Daily-Federer told WKVI that fair officials are currently coming up with possible alternatives for locations to perform the animal shows and conduct judging on projects, but they haven’t come up with anything solid yet as they hope for fair weather to dry the fairgrounds.
“Hopefully, the fairgrounds will dry out the following week and we’ll be able to move everything back down and still host a fair there, but we are also looking into other facilities for livestock shows and our dogs show is the week before as well. So, lots of research, lots of conversations happening. We’re looking into lots of different options and trying to put together a backup plan,” said Federer.
The recent issues with flooding have highlighted the potential need for a new location, but Federer said that’s not something they’d like to do. She said the current location at the Winamac Town Park is ideal but not without its problems.
“We love our location, it’s a beautiful location,” Federer said. “It’s central, it is a wonderful fairgrounds and a beautiful park, but it’s getting more and more challenging to care for it and to plan when it comes to the fair.”
Federer said her main concern is where certain events could be hosted if the fairgrounds do not dry up in time for the fair, which kicks off June 29 and runs through July 5. While they are currently looking for alternatives, Federer said nothing has been nailed down yet but there are a few locations in the area capable of hosting livestock shows.
“We want the fairgrounds to be safe. We also want people to be able to park and not get stuck, so, we’ll kind of know by the 26th and 27th what we’ll be doing with livestock, if we’ll be hosting shows at another property, another facility,” Federer said.
Only time will tell whether or not the fairgrounds will be dry before the fair kicks off. Fair officials plan to proceed as scheduled unless the weather makes doing so impossible.
