The Mariposa County Fair opens this week and the attractions are being put together. This photo shows one of the rides being worked on by carnival employees. Photo by Jeannie Tyrrell

The Mariposa County Fair is set this week and fairgrounds Manager, Brian Bullis, has been hard at work getting the grounds ready.

Community art entries were judged at the beginning of the week, such as the youth fine arts and photography. Many items created by the community are also out on display.

The annual Fair will be this Friday through Monday.

Quilts from Mariposa Piece Makers are being shown in the gallery for the first time this year. The quilts aren’t being judged and Bullis is happy to see the addition of color. He said that he was happy to make arrangements with the group for the quilts to decorate the exhibit.

“It really makes the room pop,” said Bullis.

Bullis also said that additional improvements were made because three local businesses made considerable contributions to the livestock area this year.

“We have a very generous community,” said Bullis. He shared that S&S Electric donated a new LED lighting system for the hog and sheep barn. Bullis said that a crew removed what was old and added new fans.

The annual fair program will be available at the fairgrounds.

“It took four guys to accomplish the job. It’s going to be so much brighter in here and it will save electricity,” he said.

The fair also received a much needed sound update. Bullis said Randy Brower Construction donated an elaborate PA system for the Strathearn Pavilion. The PA system will be used for the first time during the junior livestock auction on Sept. 4.

“It’s been really difficult for people to hear what’s going on,” said Bullis.

He’s excited for the updates, but he also emphasized what was updated for safety. Ranch Fence donated new fencing for the show ring. Bullis described the donation as a significant amount of new fencing which will give spectators some additional security.

He admitted that the grounds had a very low fence panel before the contribution and Bullis was always concerned that a steer would jump over and end up in the stands.

“It’s happened at fairs before,” said Bullis. He was referring to an incident in Calaveras, but another one was reported during the Redding Rodeo’s bull riding event. According to the reports, six people were injured after a bull jumped over a fence then ran through a crowd of spectators.

Bullis is taking extra safety precautions to heart and said that managing the fair this year has been a big challenge. Despite several setbacks, Bullis shared that he is ready for the fair and excited for the community to come together once again.

“I’m really proud of the way this place looks now,” he said.

Visit Mariposafair.com for more info.

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment.

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Our Hometown DMCA Notices Newspaper web site content management software and services