County Fairs Getting Break in the Severe Heat

County fairs are open all over Indiana this week and each week the rest of July. At the Howard County Fair Monday night a special dedication was held as a new fairgrounds centerpiece was unveiled. The 1909 round barn donated by Rhonda Moyers, originally built by Lawrence Armfield, and restored by the Greentown Lions Club, has been a labor of love for many, including farmer Dennis Maple.

“It’s a show piece for the fairgrounds,” he told HAT. “It’s a landmark at the north end of the pioneer village that everybody can see. As you come in to the barn it’s beautiful on the inside. We’ve made it so it’s going to be able to be rented out for functions and parties, and we’re hoping to use it for probably 8-9 months of the year besides the fair.”

He added, “Just so many things in here as we’ve used a lot of old mixed with new and it’s just an awesome structure.”

Maple said Howard County has benefited from a drop to more seasonal temperatures for fair week, and they haven’t needed to do much more than normal preparation.

“We’re prepared. Our livestock facility is one large building that has extensive ventilation in to help power ventilate the building and help get some of the heat out of it. Good old Mother Nature dropped the temperature back to seasonal this week and that’s probably going to be the biggest help for the livestock this week.”

But crops needing rain are not having a normal year. Maple says their condition is less than average, but “I think we’ve been blessed with a little bit more rainfall than some parts of the state obviously. Of course time will tell on how much more rainfall we get this season. Beans still have a very good shot to make a pretty good crop if we have some rainfall. Corn is pretty much through the pollination period here in the heat last week to week and a half. Time will tell how on it how well it pollinated.”

He said this week the corn is unwrapped and not curled up like it had been. Parts of western Howard County received up to an inch of rain on Sunday.

But the fair will go on and Maple says one of the state’s largest county fairs even features a nightly high wire act and racing pigs this year.[audio:https://www.hoosieragtoday.com//wp-content/uploads//2012/07/2012-Howard-County-Fair-update.mp3|titles=2012 Howard County Fair update]Listen for more detail from Dennis on the barn project:[audio:https://www.hoosieragtoday.com//wp-content/uploads//2012/07/Dennis-Maple-on-2012-fair-and-barn-dedication.mp3|titles=Dennis Maple on 2012 fair and barn dedication]

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