Repeated efforts have been made to obtain permission to sell beer at the Crow Wing County Fair. Those efforts have consistently been met with strong opposition and have been turned down.
The reason requests for a beer garden have been made is because the Crow Wing County Fair Board is strapped for money. The board has tapped out the available corporate sponsorships. After many years of letting folks park for free on the grassy stretch just south of the fairgrounds the board instituted parking fees in the past few years. While that money has helped the fair the revenues generated there haven’t been enough to cover the needs.
Regardless of what one thinks about the wisdom of selling beer at one of Crow Wing County’s premier summer events, it’s clear the public doesn’t want it. For this reason we reluctantly advise the fair board to charge a nominal admission to the fair. We would suggest making it a small fee, that’s not burdensome to those who attend, and letting children in free.
There’s no sense beating one’s head against a wall. Beer at the county fair is a no-go. The Crow Wing County Board is not likely to find revenues that it could contribute to the fair. Charging a minimal admission is the best answer to maintaining the quality of our county fair.
Comments (9)
Add commentLet the City Annex the Fairgrounds
It seems funny that the fairgrounds are outside the city limits. With the addition of the road to the north maybe the fairgrounds should be annexed and then the city could decide if the Jaycees get a beer garden license to keep the fair profitable to improve. We see a large contingent of law enforcement at the fair. The only thing that bothers me is the large numbers of what seem to be underage children walking around smoking.
Fair Sponsorships
If the fair is dry and needs to make up for lost sponsorships they should hit up MADD. At last count MADD had about $18,000,000 cash in the bank.
http://support.madd.org/docs/MADD_FY09_Audited_Financial_Statements.pdf
Of course, you would have to run that marketing opportunity by the people who earn millions of dollars to fight against things like responsible drinking.
The point is...
The fair sucks, beer won't change that
How much?
The story left out what the fair attendance is and how much charging an admissions fee would raise revenues. It also left out how much of projected revenues a beer garden would raise.
Hercules1944 wrong info
You need to get your facts straight. Re-read the article, nowhere does it say that Heather Becker is a MADD member. Were you there? If not, you have no idea how much "noise" either of the two made. Just because they happened to speak up and be published in the paper they are made out to be the only two opposed. Just because three others may have been mentioned in agreement to have a beer garden does not make them the majority. I believe there were at least 6 or 7 people that spoke that were against the idea. Again, if you were not there, then you have nothing to say or whine about.
Question
If it is the County Fair, why should a township board be allowed to make this decision? What is the purpose of having a Fair Board?