Bad Timing: Rain Puts Fairgrounds Under Water As Midway Tries To Set Up

    “It’s a big deal.”
    Lake County Fair manager Stacey Wade isn’t a performer at the fair, but her juggling skills might make her a candidate for a stage should the need arise. Wade spent the weekend and the early parts of this week working with her midway provider, Lake County, the fair board, former manager CE ‘Happy’ Norris, and state regulatory officials to quickly undertake work that was thought to be done months ago. Thanks to yet another heavy rainfall on an already soggy fairgrounds, the layout for the event that opens this Thursday had to be totally changed.
    The back section of the 30-acre fairgrounds, that years ago housed ancillary support vehicles but in recent years has been home to large rides, was turned into a soggy quagmire that swallowed up the first vehicle that moved across it this past weekend, when the James E. Strates midway company attempted to begin setting up for the fair.
    “Their midway manager walked into my office Friday, and I could tell from the look on his face there was a problem,” Wade said on Monday. “The first trailer that went in got stuck.”
    March's rainfall was historically high, and with more coming as the weekend arrived, it was clear the fair was not going to be able to be set up as planned. An emergency meeting of the fair board, calls to Lake County, and some advice from longtime fair manager Norris led to a revamped layout that moves most of the rides toward the front section of the fair.
    “We’re not going beyond that hard road,” Wade said. Even that area was in need of stabilizing before it could be used, and fair board member Jimmy Nussbaumer was busy Monday afternoon spreading millings in the area to allow for ride set up. Nussbaumer reported that the fairgrounds received as much as three more inches of rain leading into and over the weekend.
    The back area was once again assigned to handle boarding trailers and office vehicles used by the midway, but even that was turning out to be a touchy effort, with trailers showing sides covered with sprayed mud, the remnants of tow vehicles struggling to clear the area.
    As big of a headache as it is to reimagine a fair layout on the fly, Wade said the time crunch was made worse by the need to secure certain state-level approvals.
    “The Department of Agriculture has to approve the layout and the rides,” Wade said. That work is normally done well in advance of the fair.
    Monday's traditional 'move in' day was slowed by the conditions, as each vehicle's location had to be settled before it could move onto the fairgrounds, and after the area it was proposed to go was inspected.
    “We’ve told everyone. One trip,” Wade said. “Every day there was another one that was getting stuck. It is super soft out there.”
    As bad as it has been, Wade was quick to applaud Lake County's efforts in helping mitigate the issue. County Commissioners Kirby Smart and Sean Parks have been working to get the fair association what it needed to make the grounds useable, including 20 or more loads of millings to fill areas that have to be used.
    “The county is stepping up. We really appreciate what they are doing,” Wade said. In addition, fair board member and Florida State Representative Keith Truenow was at the fairgrounds over the weekend to help organize a response.
    “Kirby and Keith both came out on Saturday. They saw that, yes, we do have some property issues.”
    Which could be the silver lining in the sloppy mess. The fair association has leased an estimated 50 acres from Lake County south of Tavares, with plans to move the fair to that location. However, the money needed to provide the infrastructure that would allow the fair to move has been hard to come by. Wade hopes that this year’s situation will help all parties involved see the issues facing the fair, wherever it is to be held in the near or far term.
    “This year, we will really be saying, welcome to the LAKE county fair,” Wade laughed as she showed pictures of the flooding.