The Boundary County 2008 Fair, "A Tradition We Treasure," is tomorrow, at least as far as the Fair Board staff and volunteers are concerned.

This dedicated group of people have been planning and getting ready for the event since the day after last year's fair.

This year the fair is Aug. 13-16, and it will take months to get all the volunteers identified, get the judges line up, make sure the facilities are ready and work on improvement projects everyone can enjoy.

Planning this year started with the theme presented by the Friends of the Fair, "A Tradition We Treasure." It will be a pirate theme, and some are urging the board members to wear an eye patch and have a parrot on their shoulders. It will be fun and easy to develop costumes, exhibits and events that represent the theme.

Royalty will continue to take an increasing role in the fair. This year they will start early to educate and encourage people to participate and exhibit at the fair.

We plan additional entertainment and new activities this year. We are looking for more and different rides, a climbing wall, water slides and other activities.

Along with the fountain, patio and bird display barn from last year, you may be wondering what new facilities you'll see. If grants come in as hoped and local funding supports them, we could see a new horse barn to replace the one blown over in the wind last year, an extended sidewalk to the slab and a sidewalk café patio in front of the Dining Hall.

There are plans for more than 20 potential projects that include a splash pad, new building siding (fronts and doors at least), a learning center classroom and a greatly-upgraded Exhibit Hall.

The Fair budget is tight with about $11,500 that can be used for improvements. All other funding, as required by state charter, is used for putting on the fair and for maintenance. We have been able to access several grants over the last five years to leverage the recent improvements.

In addition, savings by the Fair Board, generous local donations and volunteers have made projects like the new swine/sheep barn and the upgraded Indoor Arena front possible.

The Fair budget will be stressed even more in future years. A long-term, wonderful and thoughtful renter, the Head Start school will be moving to its new facility. We are glad to see Head Start get a new facility built specifically to their needs, but we will miss them.

Head Start's rent provided more than half of the fair's discretionary funding for improvements.

Replacements of these funds will be challenging, time consuming to identify and secure and may impact the number of improvements we can complete this year. Many ideas have been proposed to help replace some of the rental funding such as certified kitchen and additional rental opportunities. Everyone's ideas are welcome.

Please call 267-7041, or meet with Elaine Sandman, our new Fair Administrator, with suggestions. You can always speak with any Fair Board member with ideas as well.

Have fun and please participate in this year's Boundary County Fair, "A Tradition to Treasure." Exhibit your favorite photo, model, quilt or jar of goat broth (yes, there really is a category for that), or similar special treasure. You get the idea; now please get your friends and families involved, especially as volunteers and exhibitors.