THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, November 16, 1994 TAG: 9411150129
SECTION: ISLE OF WIGHT CITIZEN PAGE: 04 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY LINDA MCNATT, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: ISLE OF WIGHT LENGTH: Medium: 57 lines
The first county fair since the beginning of World War II brought more than 28,000 people to this rural county over four days in September, including visitors from as far away as Isle of Wight, England.
And, at first, county officials called it an overwhelming success. But from a financial standpoint, the fair may have been a disaster.
In a financial summary released last week, fair committee members learned there is a deficit of about $10,000. And that's not counting the $10,000 in seed money the Board of Supervisors invested to get the fair off the ground.
Now, it may be up to the supervisors to finance more of the fair than expected. At least, that's what Alan Nogiec, director of the county's Recreational Facilities Authority and chairman of the fair, said he hopes will happen when he meets with the local board Thursday night.
``We're going to have to get pretty creative,'' Nogiec said. ``There are a number of ways to evaluate the success of anything, and whether or not it makes money is just one of them.''
The fair did exactly what county officials and fair organizers hoped it would do, Nogiec said. It brought together people from every part of the county that spreads across more than 300 square miles.
``It brought unity to the county,'' he said. ``We had people from Windsor working with people from Carrsville and Rushmere. This is the first thing I've seen that has really done that. And that's the kind of thing you can't put a price tag on.''
Unfortunately, some residents are putting a price on it. And many of them are pointing fingers at Sheriff Charles W. Phelps, who provided security to the fair for four days at a cost of $9,321.40.
``I was really shocked,'' said Joel Bradshaw, a former supervisor who was co-chairman of the fair. ``We can't go with a fair next year unless we go with our own security. It just ruined us.''
Phelps said he did exactly what the fair committee asked him to do when they came to him just three weeks before the fair opened. He provided 24-hour security. But he also added an extra dispatcher to handle the fair exclusively.
``Now, since nothing happened and everything went smooth, they want to critize me,'' Phelps said. ``But if we had had a Ferris wheel fall on 200 people, they would have been glad I had the necessary help.''
Another problem came when income projections were overestimated. Fair officials projected a $22,500 profit on soft drinks and the same amount for beer. Soft drink sales brought in $4,132; beer profits were only $7,345. And sponsors expected to produce $30,000 actually donated only about $7,000.
``This year, I was selling a promise,'' Nogiec said. ``Now, we have a track record to build on. We know it will be better next year.''
The supervisors meet at 7:30 p.m. Thursday at the courthouse. The future of the fair could be in their hands. by CNB