Henry County Fair offers great lineup of entertainment, will have a different look
The finishing touches were being put on the handicap-accessible viewing stand at the southwest side of the Henry County Fairgrounds grandstand on Wednesday. This is one of several projects being finished up before the fair begins on Thursday. Wendy Bryant Scheurich/C-N Photo
NAPOLEON — The 171st Henry County fair kicks off Thursday here and will offer a jam-packed lineup of events, entertainment and fun-filled activities through Aug. 15.
There’s something that may appeal to everyone this year at the eight-day event, whether it is cheerleading competition, tractor pulls, harness racing or music concerts held in the grandstand, or amusement rides, livestock showing and judging, good food or any of a number of exhibits and other activities on the fairgrounds in Napoleon.
In addition, veterans will be recognized on Aug. 13, when they and their spouses will be admitted for free. Then, at 4:30 p.m. a bean soup dinner will be held in their honor.
On Aug. 14, Kids Day will feature $13 specially priced wristbands for all ages on rides from 12-5 p.m.
“We also have a pretty good line up of kids activities this year, better than in previous years,” said Henry County Fair Board President Josh Rettig.
Grandstand events will include:
• Thursday, 6 p.m., cheerleading competition.
• Friday, 1 p.m., draft horse pull.
• Friday, 6 p.m., truck pulls.
• Aug. 10, 10 a.m., field stock tractor pull.
• Aug. 10, 5:30 p.m., grand national tractor and truck pulls.
• Aug. 11, 6 p.m., Tomato Festival parade and pageant begins in downtown Napoleon.
• Aug. 12, 6 p.m., car show.
• Aug. 12, 7:30 p.m., Jake Hoot concert.
• Aug. 12, 8:45 p.m., Mark Willis concert.
• Aug. 13-14, 6 p.m., harness racing.
• Aug. 15, 7 p.m, demolition derby.
Rettig noted that admission into the fair includes grandstand entry at no charge.
Gates will open at 7 a.m. daily. General admission is $10 for adults, and free for children 12 years old and younger.
Season or exhibitor tickets are $30 per person.
Ride wristbands are $18 for everyone daily, from 12-5 p.m. except for on Kids Day, Aug. 14, when wristbands are $13 for all ages and admission is free.
Too, parking on the fairgrounds is free.
Fair-goers will also notice a few changes regarding the area of the 4-H livestock barns, and with the 4-H livestock showing and judging.
While the 4-H livestock showing and judging will go on, visitors will see a large open tent standing in place of several livestock barns and the old show arena that were removed as part of a project to construct a community events center in the future.
This 40-foot x 60-foot open tent will serve as a temporary show arena this year and will have pens to lodge the displaced large livestock which will be hauled in by category daily for showing and judging. These animals will then leave the same day, except for the grand and reserve champions, which will be housed in a designated area in the horse barn set aside for the champions, according to Morgan Parcher, Henry County 4-H youth development educator.
But while most of the large livestock will be hauled in and out on the same day, the horses, poultry and rabbits will be available for viewing throughout the fair as usual, as their respective barns and show areas still stand.
In addition, this year there will be no open class dairy, beef, swine or sheep shows except for the open draft horse show held on the other end of the fairgrounds.
Rettig said they’ve also been working on some other last minute changes in the area where the new event center will be built. The camping area has been moved to the area where the old barns were.
“It’s a stone lot there,” he said. “We have the electric wired up for this year. We had some plans for how we were going to do this, but went a different route. We will evaluate it as the fair goes on. My initial thought is we might leave it that way, but we will see. A lot of people enjoy camping at the fair.”
Some 250-300 campers usually stay there each year.
Also, Rettig said that HOPE services purchased a handicap-accessible viewing stand though a grant. This is being constructed in front of the grandstand where people with a handicap can sit and watch the entertainment.
“It will give them a better opportunity to check out what is going on,” he said.
The fair board has also finished a couple other projects.
“We were finally able to replace all the old lights around the race track,” said Rettig. “Last year we started putting up new lights for the race track, and this year we have LED lights all the way around it.”
The lights will also help to show up the in field a lot better, he added.
Also, the outside of the dressing rooms for the pageant have a new look.
“We’ve updated the dressing rooms for the pageant,” he said referring to the tomato pageant, which will follow the Tomato Festival parade on Aug. 11.
“We are going through quite a few changes at Henry County Fair and a lot of things haven’t gone according to plan,” the fair board president said. “I wanted to thank the people of the county for their patience. It is a different year and it will have its challenges, but this year will be what you make of it. If you have it in mind you are going to have a good time, you will. It is just one of those things in life. We are coming up with solutions that are good for everyone. The solutions aren’t the first things we’ve tried, but we’ve adapted.”
Published August 3, 2024 by the Crescent-News. Written by Wendy Bryant Scheurich.
