Dickson County’s Annual Fair Wins Statewide Award
agriculture, dickson county fair, family fun, outdoors, recreation,
Dickson County certainly knows how to honor its agricultural heritage. In fact, the Dickson County Fair will celebrate its 85th anniversary in 2008.
This local celebration of agriculture, which is staged every September, was named the 2007 Most Improved Fair in Tennessee by the Tennessee Association of Fairs.
“Those folks gave us the award because we have renovated a lot of our buildings in recent years, plus we have added some brand-new facilities on the fairgrounds site,” says Edgar Meek, general manager of the Dickson County Fair. “We also have pavement at the entrance and the carnival is on blacktop, and many of our buildings are heated and cooled. We have worked hard around here to make these fairgrounds a top-notch facility.”
Meek says the fairgrounds also now feature a large dining room connected to one of the main food booths to accommodate special events.
“We pay close attention to detail in order to have our fair run as smoothly as possible,” he says.
Meek says the fair has always been agriculture-based and will continue to remain so. The spacious Dickson County Fairgrounds feature a show barn for cattle and sheep, goat and poultry barns.
“Our livestock and animal competitions are also handled differently than at most fairs,” he says. “When someone wins first place and gets their blue ribbon, we also present the person with their prize money that same day. Almost all other fairs will mail out checks once their fairs finally close, but that’s not what we are all about.”
One of the seven days at the Dickson County Fair includes an “Agriculture in the Class” field trip for all fourth-graders in the county. It gives young children the opportunity to see farm animals up close and experience activities such as milking cows and feeding chickens.
“As for overall attendance, our fair draws about 50,000 people mostly from Dickson, Cheatham, Hickman and Humphreys counties,” he says. “The fairgrounds is 50 acres, and the land is level. It is one of the nicest facilities I’ve seen in all my years of being involved with such festivities.”
Besides agricultural events and a carnival, the Dickson County Fair boasts one of the most popular demolition derbies in Tennessee each year. About 12,000 spectators come to see the car wreck competition.
“The 2008 Dickson County Fair will take place Sept. 1-7 and is clean entertainment for the entire family,” Meek says. “The American Legion oversees it, and our motto is ‘God and country’. The fair is about as wholesome and American as you can get.”
Story by Kevin Litwin
Photo by Staff Photo
