The Washington County Fair Board shared successes of last year’s fair and other events hosted at the fairgrounds at the Washington County Board of Supervisors meeting Tuesday.

Fair Board President John Wagner and Vice President Kurt Dallmeyer gave annual reports and fiscal year 2023 funding requests for the fair board and county 4-H program. They mentioned that 4-H enrollment decreased somewhat in the last year, which they attributed to a statewide trend as some members hadn’t returned after pandemic shutdowns. For the fair they had record attendance, following a restricted 4-H only event in 2020. They said this helped as they inadvertently spent more on entertainment this year due to acts that were booked for 2020 and then were rescheduled to 2021.

This past year saw large use of the new cattle barn as the American Salers Association Junior National Show was hosted at the fairgrounds last June. Positive feedback on the fairground’s facilities has led to the booking of the Miniature Hereford Junior Nationals event in Washington this coming June. For building projects this year, the fair board mentioned efforts to replace the show ring, renovate the goat and multispecies barn, build a new maintenance shed, and update the fairgrounds welcome sign. As the fair board mentioned that they remain in the top 10 of Iowa’s county fairs, they will also soon be leading the way with their own fair mobile app where the public can find show and entertainment schedules and eventually purchase tickets directly on their phones as well.