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Ear Tags Have Arrived |
Official Gratiot County Fair for Youth market livestock ear tags have arrived and are available at the Fair Office located in the MSU Extension Office in Ithaca. Tags are needed for market beef, feeder beef, sheep, swine, and goats. Tags cost exhibitors $1.00.
All livestock registrations forms and deadlines can be found at http://www.gcffy.org/fair_forms.html. Be sure to check this to make sure your forms are in on time. The market beef registration deadline has been extended until 4:00 p.m., Wednesday, February 15, 2012.
NEW FOR 2012. When completing your forms, be sure to completely fill out your forms and have them signed. RFID numbers will be closely looked at on all of our beef and feeder registration forms as will Scrapie Tag numbers for sheep. We will need to have one picture of the entire animal and a picture of the ear tag clearly visible for each animal. You can include more than one picture per form. FAXED REGISTRATION FORMS WILL NOT BE ACCEPTED. Incomplete registration forms will NOT be accepted.
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Fair Dinner Dance Information |
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| The Gratiot County Fair for Youth will be holding its annual Fair Dinner Dance at Town & Country in Ithaca at 6:00 p.m., Saturday, March 24, 2012. Look for a Howdown with great BBQ food, cool silent auction items and time with good friends. Boots and spurs are optional. All money raised will help ensure the fair meets its mission to provide our exhibitors with a great and traditional fair experience. Tickets will be available soon from fair board members and the fair office. Contact the fair office if you have silent auction items you would be interested in donating. |
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Pictures of 2011 Fair |
| Monica Brennan and her camera are commonly found around shows and events at the fair. Monica has posted 958 2011 fair pictures on-line at http://monicamariephotography.smugmug.com/Other/Alma-Fair-2011/18623564_GMBjV6#!i=1439310252&k=7sxVtjD which can be viewed or purchased. They are great pictures and if you would like any of them, you can purchase them from this site. All money earned by Monica will be donated back to the fair's Open the Gate Campaign to renovate the horse arena. |
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Gratiot County Fair for Youth Signs Three Year Carnival Contract and Sets Fair Dates |
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(Alma, Michigan) The Gratiot County Fair for Youth signed a three year carnival contract with Gold Medal Amusements. Highlights of the new carnival company will be a double ferris wheel, a three abreast gingerbread style carousel, and amazing fair food vendors. In all, Gold Medal will provide the fair with at least fifteen rides each year and will entertain all ages.
Locking in the fair’s carnival contract also locks in the fair’s dates through 2014. The fair’s dates will be August 4 – 11, 2012, August 3 – 10, 2013, and August 2 – 9, 2014.
“We are excited to bring in this carnival company to Gratiot County,” states fair president, Becky Hirschman. “They are
open to working with us to provide fun incentives for the fair including a weekly Mega Pass, two for one wrist band days and specials.”
For fair staff and volunteers, August is not far away. “Having dates set will help us finalize our schedule and start promoting the upcoming fair,” remarks Hirschman. She expects there will be some exciting changes to the schedule which will help the fair’s exhibitors and community.
Carnival Mega Passes will be available for $40 each from the fair office soon.
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Fair Seeks to fill Sheep Superintendent Vacancy |
Alma, Michigan. The Gratiot County Fair for Youth is seeking qualified applicants to fill vacant volunteer sheep superintendent position for the 2012 fair. Interested candidates must complete an application form available at www.gcffy.org or by contacting the GCFFY Fair Office. Applicants must be willing to work with all exhibitors, organized, and committed to the fair’s mission. Completed application forms are due by 4:00 p.m., Friday, Februry 17, 2012 at the GCFFY Fair Office. The fair’s board of directors will fill these vacancies from the applicant pool. |
Click Here for Superintendent Application Form
Click Here for Superintendent Job Description |
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Gratiot County Fair for Youth makes changes to Livestock Rules |
(Alma, Michigan) The Gratiot County Fair for Youth Board of Directors is making changes which will offer more opportunities to exhibitors showing at the 2012 fair. These changes were made from recommendations from leaders in livestock areas, fair evaluation, requests from exhibitors, and trends in our local agriculture community.
Large numbers of dairy cows are bred in Gratiot County each year to support the increasing volume of milk produced here. The fair wants to acknowledge this trend by recognizing quality dairy beef steers by offering a specific market beef class for finished dairy bred beef steers. Exhibitors in this class will show against other dairy beef steers in their class. Class winners in dairy bred beef classes will show against other beef steers for the championship.
The fair will be adding a beef feeder class for young beef steers to our feeder beef division. This will allow our exhibitors the experience of showing young market beef animals at the fair. These animals will not compete against dairy feeder steers for champion feeder. The fair is also lowering the maximum weight for a feeder (both dairy and beef) to 650 pounds and is changing the registration deadline to April 15, 2012. This will allow exhibitors another month to plan their feeder projects.
In order to better manage our market goat classes, we will be requiring market goat exhibitors to preregister their project animals by May 15. As with large animal species, goats will need to have an official GCFFY button sized ear tag and a photo of their project animal.
For more information about these changes or the GCFFY, contact the fair office at 989-875-5292 or info@gcffy.org. |
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Gratiot County Fair for Youth Changes Showmanship Requirements |
(Alma, Michigan) The Gratiot County Fair for Youth’s Board of Directors voted to allow exhibitors the ability to choose whether to exhibit in Showmanship in their species in order to sell their project animals at the market livestock sale. This change is in response to the fair week conflicting with the beginning of the official high school athletics practice schedule during the 2012 fair.
“We want as many exhibitors as possible to be able to participate in our fair,” states fair President, Becky Hirschman. “We are the Gratiot County Fair for Youth” Hirschman continued with an emphasis on “youth”, “and we want to be responsive to the needs of our exhibitors.”
The fair will send letters to school superintendents, high school principals, and athletic directors asking them to encourage coaches to work with fair exhibitors to be able to exhibit their projects. Letters will be mailed in the last half of January. “It is my hope schools will work with our community fair’s exhibitors”, states Brian Gardner, Fair Coordinator. “We are willing to compromise in good faith and hope they will be as well.” Gardner stressed the valuable skills gained by exhibitor participation in animal projects.
Exhibitors will still have to participate in their market classes and be present to sell their animals. If exhibitors decide not to participate in showmanship, they are required to complete a record book in the project area.
The fair signed a three year contract last month with Gold Medal Amusements for the first full week of August. The scheduling conflict with athletic practices will only affect the 2012 fair. According to the MHSAA, athletic practices will start the week following the 2013 and 2014 fair.
The Gold Medal amusement company will offer the community an exciting variety of rides including one of only five double Ferris wheels in the country, a sixty foot tall super loop ride, a carousel and traditional fair rides and food. |
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Gratiot County Fair for Youth Changes Fair Off Road Vehicle Rules |
(Alma, Michigan) The Gratiot County Fair for Youth’s Board of Directors voted to establish the following rules for Off Road Vehicles at the fair.
 Off road vehicle rules are in effect when the vehicle arrives at the Fairgrounds.- Off road vehicles must be operated in a safe and orderly manner.
- All off road vehicles must be registered and they must possess an insurance policy that provides $300,000 liability insurance coverage for operation of the vehicle on the grounds. Written documentation of this coverage must be submitted when the vehicle is registered.
- Operators and passengers of off road vehicles must comply with the manufacturers operating instructions.
- Operators and passengers of off road vehicles must comply with the manufacturers seating capacity requirements.
- Driving on the Midway is prohibited.
- The intent of off road vehicles on the fairgrounds is to assist with animal chores.
- Vehicles may be operated only between the hours of 6 – 9 a.m. and 7 – 9 p.m. The only exceptions are those vehicles operated by authorized fair personnel or by someone with a special use permit.
- Registration forms are available online and at the MSU Extension Office. Forms are due by June 15th. The registration fee is $25.00 and must be submitted with the form. Once the form and fee are submitted you will receive a permit that must be visible and on the off road vehicle at all times.
- NO WARNINGS WILL BE GIVEN! If any of these rules are broken the vehicle must be removed from the fairgrounds or immobilized. Failure to do so may result in expulsion from the fairgrounds and/or loss of campsite.
Properly registered ORV’s will be issued a fair license good for the current year fair. Special Use Permits will be issued to help make our fair more accessible, and as a tool to do fair work.
“The fair wants to provide as safe of an environment as possible,” states board Vice President, Mark Story. “These changes will help us provide this safe environment as well as be respectful of the needs of our exhibitor families to easily care for their animals.”
For more information, contact the fair office at 989-875-5292 or info@gcffy.org. |
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Matthew Newman is Welcomed as New Gratiot County 4-H Coordinator |
 January 3, 2012 marked a new era for the Gratiot County 4-H Program as Matthew Newman began work as the new 4-H Coordinator for the county. Newman replaces Katie Eisenberger who left MSU Extension on July 31 and knows he has big shoes to fill. Currently his first priority is to work with 4-H leaders to get club enrollments out and back in as soon as possible.
Newman is a 4-H Alum from a 4-H family from Montcalm County where he showed swine and exhibits for several years.
Newman comes to the county after teaching English as a Second Language classes in Allendale, Michigan. Prior to this, he served two different terms in the United States Peace Corps. In this role he spent two years in Albania and for a special service for six months in Guyana (north of Brazil) in a remote village in the Amazon basin accessible only by boat.
The Gratiot County Fair for Youth looks forward to working together with Matt as he serves in this role. You can reach Matt at 989-875-5233 or newman39@anr.msu.edu. |
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Fair Elects New Board of Directors |
At the GCFFY Annual Meeting, the members of the fair elected new board members. Our new board is
President: Becky Hirschman (2013)
Vice President: Mark Story (2012)
Secretary: Nicole Whitmore (2014)
Treasurer: Kris Duflo (2013)
Teen Representatives:
Lance Fowler (2013)
Sara Stack (2012)
Directors:
Joe Butcher (2014)
Matt Cary (2012)
Darcy Martyn (2012)
Jason O'Boyle (2014)
Ben Pritchard (2013)
Josh Shaffer (2014)
Martha Stellow (2013)
Argil Willman (2012)
Thank you to our outgoing board members Jacob Sherwood, Carl Sztuczko, and Frank Welling. Each of these board members made a strong impact on the board and the fair. |
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Camping Update
 Camping letters went out to last year's campers late last year. Camping forms are due in mid January along with a registration fee of $125.00 for families who have exhibitors, animal (who are housed on the grounds) superintendents, and fair board/staff members, all others will be charged $250. Forms are due from all campers including campers who have a prepaid ten year lease.
Open campsites will be filled from a waiting list. Currently there are over thirty families on the waiting list. If you would like your name added to the camping waiting list, contact the fair office at 989-875-5292 orinfo@gcffy.org.
The fair is also upgrading our existing camping facilities. Currently there are several campsites which are being filled with dirt to help make them level. From a donation from Aristeo, we received broken concrete from the new wind mill driveways which has been added to our eastern roads of the campgrounds. |
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"Like" us on Facebook. |
We all like to be "liked" and any official communications from the Gratiot County Fair for Youth will be sent out first through our Facebook feed. Reminders of upcoming deadlines and about the fair will also be frequently posted. Be sure to find us atwww.facebook.com/gcffy and "like" us.
While you are at it, be sure to "like" the Gratiot County 4-H Program on Facebook as well at www.facebook.com/GratiotCounty4H for information and updates about opportunities in 4-H.
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Ear Tags and Livestock Registration Update |
Our ear tag vendor had a mix-up where our ear tags are NOT yet availble. When the tags come into the office, the fair will post an update on the front page of www.gcffy.org and on our Facebook page.
At this time Beef Registration forms are due in our office by 4:00 p.m., February 1, 2012. If tags do not arrive by Friday, January 20, the registration deadline will be extended. Look for information on the website when the tags arrive. Whenever this is, we will make it as easy as possible for exhibitors to pick them up.
All livestock registrations forms and deadlines can be found at http://www.gcffy.org/fair_forms.html. Be sure to check this to make sure your forms are in on time.
When completing your forms, be sure to completely fill out your forms and have them signed. RFID numbers will be closely looked at on all of our beef and feeder registration forms. We will need to have one picture of the entire animal and a picture of the ear tag clearly visible for each animal. You can include more than one picture per form. FAXED REGISTRATION FORMS WILLNOT BE ACCEPTED. Incomplete registration forms will NOT be accepted.
Thank you for your patience. |
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Rabbits and Poultry Department Eliminate Mandatory Record Books |
| Record books for poultry and rabbits will no longer be made mandatory to participate in the rabbit or poultry department or to sell a market animal in these areas. Record books are still strongly encouraged. If an exhibitor opts out of showmanship and still wishes to sell their animal, then the record book will still be required. |
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2011 Fair Sales Support Youth Exhibitors |
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Alma, Michigan. The Gratiot County Fair for Youth auctions allow exhibitors an opportunity to sell projects at the fair. On Sunday, July 31, exhibitors will be selling Still Exhibits. Still Exhibits are hand crafted items which are exhibited in the fair. Expect lots of amazing food items, quilts, wood crafts, and creative projects. The auction starts at 5:30 p.m. in the fair’s covered arena.
“The Still Exhibit Auction encourages youth participation in our fair’s exhibit project areas,” states Katie Eisenberger, 4-H Youth Educator for Gratiot County. Eisenberger provides leadership to the fair’s still exhibit project barns. “It is exciting to see the number of youth who are able to participate in an auction at the fair who cannot sell an animal,” continues Eisenberger. Eisenberger stresses the amount of learning which happens through mastering a still exhibit project. “I am amazed at the number of boys who have learned to cook because we added this auction,” states Eisenberger.
On Friday, August 5 exhibitors will have the opportunity to sell their market animal projects at the Livestock Sale. Small animals start the sale at 10:00 a.m. followed by large animals at 1:00 p.m. The fair has 386 large animals and 154 small animal projects registered to be sold this day.
“It amazes me to see the support from our community at the sales,” states Brian Gardner, GCFFY Fair Coordinator. “Last year over $400,000 was brought in at our sale most of which was reinvested back into our community”
Click here for more information about the GCFFY Sales. |
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Highland Festival Camping |
Campers from across the country and Canada will find Gratiot County hospitality at the fair’s campgrounds for Alma’s 2012 Highland Festival. The fair has 130 campsites each having water and electrical hookups. The fair also has a bathhouse with showers, and bathroom facilities. The fair camping area is 1.4 miles from Alma College which is the heart of the Highland Festival. A map from the campgrounds to Alma College may be accessed by clicking here.
The fair offers camping at $25 per night during the festival. The fair will accept reservations from Thursday, May 24 to Monday, May 28. To make reservations for the 2012 festival, click on the reservation form.
Contact the fair office at (989) 875-5292 or info@gcffy.org for more information.
For information about the 44th Annual Alma Highland Festival, click on www.almahighlandfestival.com, email highland@almahighlandfestival.com, or call 989-463-8979. |
