Loss of grandstand not fair for Saratoga County event
Replacement funding needs boost; patrons may bring chairs
Eight months after the Saratoga County Fair grandstand was torn down, the nonprofit Agricultural Society is nowhere close to replacing it.
With the fair set to open on July 22, it’s now clear there will not be a grandstand this year.
The society will rent some bleachers for the three-day event. But it will mainly be a bring-your-own-chair fair.
“We are having the truck and tractor pulls Friday, but we do not have seating,” President Tammy Ballestero said. In past years, the fair was usually a few days longer with people flocking to the grandstand for daily entertainment.
“People could bring in a folding chair. We will rent some bleachers, but we’re used to having 100,000 people sitting in that grandstand.”
When the society decided to demolish the structure last November, the decision seemed cut and dried. The grandstand was built in the late 1800s. Engineering reports in 2019 indicated the building was no longer safe.
Structural repairs were estimated to cost more than $750,000, and bids for a new building that was handicapped accessible came in around $1 million. Inspectors also warned that once they started repairs, they might find more costly damage.
“That became a no-brainer. Sure, they could fix it, but all we’d be doing is putting a Bandaid on it,” Ballestero said.
So they knocked it down, issuing a statement saying they were looking forward to the 2021 fair with a new grandstand.
They started fundraising at once. But in the middle of the coronavirus pandemic, it didn’t go well. A fish fry brought in $1,800. Board members talked 21 friends into donating $21 each. But that was a long way from $1 million.
“It quickly become apparent to us we wouldn’t be able to reach that goal during the pandemic,” Ballestero said.
Saratoga County has offered $250,000 if they can match it. But so far the society's raised a total of $75,000.
“What I need is a fairy godmother,” Ballestero said.
The group is moving forward with a stripped-down fair, which was planned quickly after the state announced in May that county fairs could open this summer. That didn’t give fair organizers much time to book entertainment, rent equipment and set up all the arrangements needed for a complex week-long show.
“We’re the first fair in the area (to open) and we’re struggling to meet all our deadlines,” Ballestero said. “Getting the insurance — it’s months. There are insurance permits, mass gathering permits, liquor licenses. A lot of those departments are still working from home.”
The fair will not have a liquor license in time, which means no beer tent. But Ballestero noted that as the pandemic drags on, the beer tent might not have been the safest event to offer anyway.
It all adds up to a traditionalstyle fair, with a focus on animal shows.
“I want to be very honest. There’s not going to be any big bands in the evenings and no alcohol,” she said. “If they’re coming thinking there’s going to be alcohol this year, there’s going to be no alcohol. There’s just not enough time.”
There will be a carnival and many of the food vendors seen in the past. Money from the tractor and truck pulls will go to the grandstand fund.
“There’s going to be quite a bit of fair food but not as much,” she said.
As usual, the carnival will hold a “sensory sensitive” hour starting at 11 a.m. Friday for those who would be distressed by loud noises or flashing lights.
Entrance to the fair will be $5, down from $12, and parking will be offered by the Lions Club for $5. Normally, parking is free.
On Thursday, entrance to the fair will be free, with the carnival running from 5 to 11 p.m. The annual chicken barbecue will be that night, from 4 to 7 p.m., with all funds going toward the grandstand. Diners must buy their tickets in advance from Cornell Cooperative Extension, by calling 518-8858995 or going online to ccesaratoga.org.
For now, organizers are focusing on the fair instead of the long-term fundraising needed for the grandstand.
“When the governor said we can open, we said OK, let’s put all our focus on that,” Ballestero said. “It started out just being a three-day animal show. When we found out we could add on, we tried to do that. I can promise you we’re doing the best we can.”
She’s looking forward to simply seeing people at the fair again.
“Last year we tried to do virtual but I didn’t enjoy that. There’s nothing like bringing people together,” she said.
Youth who show animals at the fair are thrilled to be back.
Colin Anderson, 14, of West Charlton, who shows his prizewinning sheep and beef cattle at competitions around the country, will be showing sheep.
“That’s where I learned how to show. I’m pretty excited,” he said.
He doesn’t do shows just for fun. It’s business.
Animals that win at big shows can be sold for thousands of dollars, and their offspring are also considered valuable, he said, speaking by cell phone on his way to a show in Springfield, Ill.
“I sell lambs for breeding stock," he said. "It really brings a lot more attention to me – I can sell lambs for more money if the lamb had won some big show.”
Kohlby Himelrick, 17, of Gansevoort, will be showing goats that he has been caring for since he was about 10 years old. Himelrick doesn’t live on a farm, and at first leased the goats from a nearby farm in a traditional fair arrangement. But he fell in love with the work, and now intends to become a farmer and run his own herd of goats after getting a four-year agricultural business degree.
“I’ll move my herd to hopefully my own plot of land by the time I’m out of college,” he said.
It all started with the Saratoga County Fair.
“Ever since I was little and my parents would take me to the fair, every year for the goat show we would sit and watch the whole show,” he said. “And then I really, really wanted to show my own goats.”