ESCANABA, Mich. (WZMQ) – On Monday, a nationwide initiative to educate fair organizers and volunteers made its way to the Delta County Chamber of Commerce.
Representatives from local county fairs, the U.P. State Fair, and community organizations attended a workshop about ways to improve their events and strengthen their communities.
“Today we have our kickoff,” said Scott Hillyer, CEO of Fairs.com. “This is our first meeting of the You Make THE Difference Tour. We set a goal to talk to and train 500 fair boards by May 1st.”
Speaker Ian Hill founded the You Make THE Difference initiative to support agricultural societies and fair boards in rural areas.
“They make a significant difference in their community,” he said. “In these changing times, they need all the support, inspiration, and education that we can possibly provide them. How do we increase our revenue, decrease our expenses, and—most importantly—how do we serve the communities in which we reside?”
Much of Hill’s presentation focused on ways to get locals engaged in their fairs.
“From the pandemic to today, people don’t volunteer as much,” Hill said. “People aren’t involved as much. A fair or an ag society can be the catalyst to bringing those people together, to creating that sense of community, and a sense of community pride.”
According to Hillyer, giving the passionate people behind local fairs the proper tools will help keep those events running well into the future.
“Fair board members are a special, special breed,” he said. “Many of them have been on their fair boards for 10, 20, 30-plus years, and they’ve got things that have worked incredibly well for them in the past to put on a great event. The challenge of today is that the customers are changing; the world is changing fast. There just needs to be new tools, new solutions, new ways of doing business.”
Hill says fairs—whether at the county level or the size of the U.P. State Fair—are essential to the continued success of small communities like the ones here in the Upper Peninsula.
“Rural communities are relevant in the 21st century,” said Hill. “Not everybody’s going to be able to live in 20 cities across the United States. Ag societies and your local fair help keep small towns alive.”
For more information on how the You Make THE Difference TOUR and Fairs.com are empowering fair organizers across the country, visit makethedifference.community.
