Preparations begin for Sanders County Fair

PLAINS - The preparations have begun for the Sanders County 2015 Fair, which will be held from Thursday, September 3rd through Sunday, September 6th.

There are three employees, an incoming and outgoing fair manager and a contractor working around the clock to make sure all is ready for the fair.

Dede Steinebach, the incoming fair manager who will be replacing Mike Hashisaki after this year’s fair, said, “We have a project where we are re-siding the pavilion, and just cleanup and making sure the grass is mowed... and making sure the carnival and rodeo are on track.”

The big push to cleanup and the preparations starts in the summer prior to the fair, but Steinebech said that the work is really an all year process.

Laughingly Steinebach said, “The day after this year’s fair it starts.”

Most noticeably, the largest project being completed right now is the re-siding of the pavilion, which contractor Robin Huenink has been working on for about a week.

“Were going to re-side the whole structure,” said Huenink.

The task will include putting metal siding over the old siding and any repairs that will be exposed as the job continues, Huenink explained.

“It’s getting metal that matches the AG building. We’re treating it the same way the AG building was done... Not disturbing the old siding just going right over the top of it,” Huenink said.

Much of the repairs Huenink has uncovered as he has progressed has been water damage and dry rot, which he said has come from old holes in the building.

“The more I dig into, there’s more I find I need to repair... With remodel work you never know what there is until you get into it,” he said.

With the fair a little over a month away, Huenink says that he would like to have the residing project completed by fair time, but feels unsure with the extra work he is finding that it would be a tall order to complete.

Despite the extensive work ahead of him, Huenink is very pleased to be working on the project to repair the county’s fair pavilion. It will be just another job he will have finished for the fairgrounds. Over the years Huenink has been involved in numerous projects Hashisaki has started.

“I try to be involved in projects, I really do enjoy it,” Huenink said.