Colorado River Fair Research Paper

The Colorado River Fair, as part of the network of California fairs, provides an enormous return on investment both economically and socially.

Fairs celebrate our history and heritage. They are an educational opportunity for youth and provide wholesome entertainment for families. 4-H and FFA programs support California’s vibrant agriculture sector. Community members of all ages enter their artwork, baked goods, photography and other homemade products in pursuit of coveted blue ribbons. Many non-profit and charity-based organizations participate in activities at the fair.

The fairgrounds can even be used as staging sites and rescue locations during catastrophic emergencies. The network of California fairs has a significant impact on

Jobs are created by the fair, carnival and vendors. Events at the Colorado River Fairgrounds created the equivalent of 52 jobs.

Needless to say, we as a community do not want to see our fairgrounds close.

In addition to the fair, our facility also provides utilization of the grounds for community functions on a year round basis.

Some examples are the annual Fireworks Show, Run for the Wall, food drive during the fair (3,500 pounds of can goods collected), use of the parking lot for school bus driver training, use of the kitchen for our local 4-H groups to hold their annual BBQ fundraisers, Blue Grass Festival, FFA Awards Dinner, wedding receptions, the Palo Verde High School Homecoming dinner and the High School Prom.

In the past six years the fair management has worked hard to raise money by applying for grants and establishing a nonprofit 501 (C)(3) foundation.

This money, along with generous donations from individuals, local businesses, local service organizations and the two prisons has been used to maintain the facilities and

That being said, there are other infrastructure areas that are failing and we have very little money for repairs.

The Colorado River Fair is a state agency. In 2012, the state quit providing California fairs with any funding, which was a tremendous blow to our local fair. However, the news isn’t all grim.

We now receive a minuscule amount of funding from the state, and over 11 years ago, our fair was placed on a list called ‘Fairs on the Watch,’ which means, our fair has been losing money each and every year. I am proud to say that with your continued support and us watching our every penny, we have met the criteria for being removed from the list and the only way to accomplish that is to have two years of positive reserves.

To this day there are 19 fairs that are in a potential financial