Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, June 18, 1994 TAG: 9406210119
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C4 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: RON BROWN STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Chamber members thought the fair, which hasn't been held in more than 40 years, was an ideal way to show off a growing county.
Soltice thought it should be a natural derivative of the county's rural character.
"If you are going to have a fair, it would be in Botetourt County," he said. "We know where we come from: We come from an agricultural background. We haven't given that up."
Today, fair planners will hold a horse and antique tractor pull in Hollins starting at 9 a.m. in hopes of testing prospects for a renewed fair sometime next year.
The trick for Soltice and other chamber members is to spur interest in a fair in a county that is evolving from farms to suburbs. They believe that development of a fairground could enable them to provide facilities that could serve the diverse needs of the county's changing population.
They envision a fairground that would contain a multipurpose community center and park with a lake for swimming and fishing. They are looking for fair sites and are hoping someone might donate one.
Currently, the county has no facility to house such events, said Jeff Bowles, who is heading a planning committee, hopes to get the fair off the ground in 1995.
Bowles, a bank executive and former Fincastle town councilman, sees the fair as a boost to economic development in the county.
"We want to showcase Botetourt County," he said.
To gain the support they need, Bowles and Soltice have had to walk a political tightrope, making sure not to step on the toes of planners in Buchanan and Fincastle.
Buchanan conducts an annual carnival to raise funds for its volunteer Fire Department. Fincastle holds an annual festival to honor its historic downtown.
To avoid conflicts, fair planners have promised to steer clear of dates close to the Buchanan and Fincastle events.
And they hope to offer something just a little bit different.
They began their planning by researching the old county fair, which included horse racing, crafts exhibits, livestock shows and some entertainment.
The old fair began in the 1880s. The last record of a fair the planners could find was in 1950.
They hope to solicit support of the county's school system, which could use the fair to showcase the works of vocational-technical students and members of the Future Farmers of America.
Garland Jones, assistant superintendent of Botetourt County schools, counts himself among the supporters.
Jones remembers when the fair was a part of the fabric of post-World War II Botetourt County.
With many farms and limited transportation, the fair was the primary social activity for most county residents.
Jones, 60, who was a teen-ager at the time of the 1950 fair, has fond memories of the bright lights and carnival rides in the fair's midway and the many exhibits that surrounded it. He remembers the lure of home-baked goods, champion livestock and canned goods provided by the homemakers of the county.
"It was a big event," he said.
He also remembered how it pulled the community together, and thinks it possibly could again. He says that many people moving into the county are looking to renew their agricultural roots.
That's a big part of the thinking of today's planners.
"We're trying to keep part of the history here," Bowles said. "Fincastle wouldn't have stayed the way it is, if there wasn't those type of people here."
by CNB