Belen

The Valencia County Fair will begin in August as planned.

Karen Jarratt, secretary of the Valencia County Fair Manage-ment Board, said the cut in fuding for the Agricultural Extension Service by the County Commission will not affect the fair in any way.

“The Valencia County Fair Management Board Inc. sponsors the fair. It has nothing to do with the county or 4-H. We’re an organization of individuals who use that land to give a county fair,” Jarratt said. “People have long thought it was run by the county. The 4-H is a very important part of the fair, but it does not affect (the existence of) the fair.

“They think the fair is put on by the county. We are volunteers. No one is allowed to accept pay. I have been doing this for 17 years. We will have a county fair. ”

Jarratt said that the only part of the fair that requires a 4-H or an FFA membership is the “open market show” which is “for anybody in the county who wants to show a market animal, including a beef breeding heifer, a pig, lamb or a goat,” for example.

But, she added, the horse, mule, donkey and rabbit shows are open to the general public and do not require membership in 4-H or FFA.

She added that “even if a 4-H office closes, parents can still operate through the state 4-H and have a sponsor and have leaders.” The fair is scheduled for Aug. 17 through Aug. 20.

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Katherine Saltzstein