By Kellen Olshefski
Staff Writer
In its 164th season, the Walworth County Fair is set to participate in the new worldwide initiative “Dream Big.”
An international food drive done through worldwide fairs and expositions, Education Director for the International Association of Fairs and Expositions (IAFE) Marla Calico said current chair, Marlene Pierson-Jolliffe, came up with the idea early in 2012.
Calico said Pierson-Jolliffe’s passion about the role fairs play in their communities, “very often the unsung heroes,” was the push that got the ball rolling.
According to Calico, Pierson-Jolliffe said traditionally many county fairs have worked quietly and modestly, making a big impact on their communities.
“Marlene said, ‘What if we tried to quantify that … what if we encouraged them to dream big,” she said.
Beginning with small food drives, the program began to grow and by September 2012, announcements concerning the initiative had been sent to most of the fairs associated with IAFE so they could begin planning.
With some food drives already generating large amounts in collections, the Washington State Fair pulling in more than 200,000 pounds of food for example, Calico said the organization began to contact fair with successful food drives, putting together flyers and a step-by-step guide based on the words of fairgrounds personnel from across the country.
“Enthusiasm just started to build,” Calico said.
With between 70-75 percent of North American fairs historically happening between July and September, according to Calico, the nation is right in the midst of fair season. With less than 80 fairs reporting tallies thus far, the organization has raised over 676,000 pounds of food to benefit communities across the nation.
However, Calico said this is definitely not a final number and though IAFE has a hefty goal of 20 million pounds of food, she expects they will definitely be in the millions.
“We’re going to keep on tallying right up until the end of November,” she said. “We know there are a lot of fairs to report yet.”
With everybody getting involved, whether it’s fair boards, county fairs, or state fairs, Calico said regardless of how much food they collect, it speaks to what Pierson-Jolliffe is passionate about.
“You can say a county fair is a county fair, a state fair is a state fair, no matter where you go, but the true element of a fair is the role they play in their community,” she said.
“Marlene said let’s step up our game, let’s show what we can do to help our community because it’s what fairs are all about.”
According to Calico, the association gave fairs the freedom to promote the drive however they so choose. As an example, she noted the Erie County Fair in Buffalo, N.Y., offered discounts and ride promotions for guests who brought canned food items.
Though not all fairs can afford to go that route specifically, especially free fairs, Calico said each fair has come up with something different.
According to Calico, two fairs did “something really different,” gathering volunteers for meal packaging.
The Iowa state fair brought together 1,500 volunteers to package a quarter-million meals in just 11 hours.
Calico also noted it’s not just fairs and guests getting involved, but also food vendors at fairs nationwide donating to the common cause.
With one in six Americans struggling with hunger, according to Feeding America, a national hunger-relief charity, Calico said it’s a great way to help out the community.
“If you’re going out to the fair anyway, take some food along,” she said.
“It’s a simple and painless way to make sure people in your community have something to eat. It’s the power of all of us doing a little bit and not counting on someone else.”
Angie Kynell, heading up the Walworth County Fair’s Dream Big initiative, was unavailable for comment prior to press time.
If you go
Small groups, wearing DREAM BIG t-shirts, will be walking around the fairgrounds selling tickets each day for a 50/50 raffle to raise money towards local food pantries.
Tickets will be sold for $1 each or 6 for $5 and can be purchased at the Fair Office or Souvenir Booth as well.
Winners will be announced each evening right before the Grandstand performances and the winning numbers will also be posted in the office and on the fair website.
Winners will have until 6 p.m. on Sept. 2 to claim their prize otherwise it will be added to the money going towards the food drive.
