The 101st Washington County Fair starts Friday, July 26th in Arlington. Most of the fairgrounds were damaged in the spring flooding.
President of the Washington County Agriculture Society and Fair Jason Claudt tells NewsRadio 1110 KFAB, "We are fairly close to the Elkhorn River, just a few hundred yards away. When the floodwaters came on March 14th, it actually came up over the road and inundated our fairgrounds. Nearly all of the buildings on our fairgrounds had about three feet of water in them. In addition to all of the landscaping and gravel on the roads, our buildings took on a lot of damage. We went to work on getting those put back together. Some are temporary. Most of them are more permanently put back together and we are fired up and ready for our fair."
Claudt says they started logging volunteer cleanup hours from the beginning. They have over 1,000 hours of volunteer time logged in just getting the grounds back to non-flood state. The hard work paid off and they are ready for fair time.
The fair kicks of Friday with country music starts Rhett Akins and Tyler Farr. On Saturday and Sunday, cowboys will compete in a rodeo. There is also a bike ride to the fair event, mud volleyball, a backyard bbq and parade. The fair includes livestock shows, exhibits and a midway.
There is no admission to the fairgrounds but fees are charged for nightly arena events. There are plenty of family friendly activities to enjoy. The Washington County Fair runs through July 31st.