The Fulton County Fair is “Celebrating 100 years of Fulton County’s Best” and have planned a full week of fair events for area residents. The annual Fulton County Fair Queen and Junior Fair Queen Pageants and the Talent Contest will be held Saturday, July 20 at the Salem Civic Center. The pageants and talent contest are open to the public at 7:00 p.m. Arkansas State University of Mountain Home will award the Fulton County Fair Queen a $500 tuition scholarship for use during the 2019-20 school year. Carter’s Jewell Chest of Mountain Home is providing beautiful full crowns. Expressions Salon by Dena is providing custom queen sashes for the two queens. Winners will represent Fulton County in the Arkansas State Fair Queen Pageant in Little Rock in October and all contestants with the exception of the winners, are eligible to enter the North Central Ark. District Fair Queen Pageants on September 28 at Ozarka College at Melbourne.
The fair officially opens on July 22 and it will run through Saturday, July 27 at the Fulton County Fairgrounds, Civic Center Road, Salem, Arkansas. FNBC Community Bankers, Tri-County Farm and Ranch Supply of Ash Flat, and White River Now/KWOZ/106.5 Outlaw Radio are the “Presenting Sponsors” and they invite everyone to be a part of the fair. All Creative Arts exhibits including flowers, horticulture and baked items will check-in on Monday from 11:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m.
The second night of the beauty pageants for age 4 months – 4 years will start at 7:00 p.m. on Monday night in the Civic Center. Hall Rodeo LLC will host Round Robin Roping Team Roping in the Fairgrounds Arena at 8:00 p.m. Call 870-577-9315 to enter the team roping competition. The Fair Concession Stand will be open and will be serving those delicious burgers so come out and enjoy some good food and attend the pageant and team roping.
Tuesday is Shaver Plumbing and Hardware Day at the Fair. All creative arts exhibits will be judged on Tuesday and the exhibit building will open for public viewing at 3:00 p.m. Entries for the King Arthur Flour Baking Contest, The Pacesetting Times “This is Fulton County” Photography Contest, and the Salem VFW Post 9777 Auxiliary Patriotic Art Contest will be judged on Tuesday. Commercial exhibits check in from 2:00 to 5:00 p.m. on Tuesday and will be located in the Salem Civic Center and will remain in place through Saturday.
The Annual Fair Horse Show is scheduled to begin at 6:00 p.m. in the arena. Horsemanship awards will be presented to the junior and senior exhibitor who earns the most points in the Horse Show. For information on the horse show, contact Christi at 870-371-0660 or Dustin at 417-293-0890.
The new Petite Miss, Junior Miss, and Young Miss Pageants for ages 5 – 13 years will be named on Tuesday night. All contestants in the youth pageants will be eligible to compete in the district pageants in September.
Wednesday is FNBC Community Bankers Day at the Fair and the day will honor all veterans. There will be special recognition for World War II veterans. and the day will with honor WWII Veteran Bill Strauss who will be 100 years old in 2019. Since the Fulton County Fair is celebrating their 100th Anniversary this year, the day will be celebrating WWII Veteran Bill Strauss’ birthday as part of the 100 Year Celebration. Mr. Strauss fought in the Battle of the Bulge. Colonel (Ret.) Anita Deason, Advisor for Military and Veterans’ Affairs from Senator John Boozman’s Little Rock Office will return as the keynote speaker. FNBC, Salem VFW Post 9777, and fair officials invite all veterans and their spouses or caregivers to attend this special day for veterans . The program will start at 10:30 a.m. The day will end with games and door prizes donated by the VFW Auxiliary members.
The Beta Sigma Phi Pie Baking Contest will be held at 3:00 p.m. on Wednesday with $295 in added prize money. Any type of pie can be entered. Photos will be made of all the entries to be displayed and the pies will be sold after judging with the funds from the sale of pies going to the fair scholarship fund.
Wednesday is livestock check-in day and this includes poultry and rabbits. Arkansas fair exhibition laws
require that all poultry exhibits must have a negative Pullorum test within ninety (90) days of entry to the fairgrounds. Poultry testers will be at the pavilion at the Salem City Park on Civic Center Road to do testing. Exhibitors whose last name starts with A-M should be there between 3:00 and 5:00 p.m. and exhibitors whose last name starts with N-Z should check-in between 5:00 and 7:00 p.m. There will be no charge for the test.
All other livestock, including beef and dairy cattle, sheep and goats, swine and rabbits, will check in from 5:00 to 7:00 p.m. Come out and support the exhibitors and let them know you appreciate all of the hard work that goes into exhibiting at a fair.
Johnson Brothers Amusements will return to the Fulton County Fair this year with new rides. They will open at 6:00 pm on Wednesday night with rides and amusement booths. Armbands will be honored on each night from 6:00 to 10:00 p.m. Reduced price armband tickets are available at Shaver Plumbing and Hardware, FNBC Community Bank, Bank of Salem, North Arkansas Electric, and Hill’s Auto Sales in Salem and Tri-County Farm and Ranch Supply in Ash Flat. Advance armband tickets are $20 and they will be $25 if purchased on the fairgrounds after the carnival opens. Tickets are also available at the Fulton County Fair Office during regular office hours. Armbands can be used any night and are good from 6:00 to 10:00 p.m.
Hall Rodeo, LLC returns to the Fulton County Fair with an ACA sanctioned rodeo on Wednesday and Thursday nights. FNBC Community Bankers, Bank of Salem, Main Street Tire & Lube and Dairy Queen will sponsor the 2-night rodeo and it will get underway at 8:00 p.m. each night. Cline Hall is a popular area rodeo producer and promises two nights of fast paced rodeo action. Call Hall 501-412-3644 for more information and to enter.
Thursday is Bank of Salem Day at the Fair and events start with Senior Day. This event is for all seniors, age 60 and older, and is sponsored by the Bank of Salem and White River Area Agency on Aging. Senior Day starts at 10:00 a.m. and will feature free admission, entertainment, a free BBQ lunch, games, golf cart tours of the livestock exhibits, and goodie bags and door prizes from area businesses. Arkansas Attorney General Leslie Rutledge will present a program on Fraud Prevention for Seniors The medical community will showcase their services and have health screenings available throughout the day.
Thursday is filled with a day of judging at the fair. Livestock judging will start at 8:00 a.m. with swine judging. Rabbit showmanship and judging will start at 10:00 a.m. Simmons Bank and Salem Auto Supply will sponsor awards for the Goat and Sheep show and judging will start at 11:00 a.m. Poultry showmanship and judging is at 1:00 p.m. The 2nd night of the rodeo will start at 8:00 p.m.
Friday is North Arkansas Electric Cooperative Day at the Fair. and will start with beef and dairy cattle judging at 9:00 a.m. in the Everett Show Arena. First Community Bank and Leslie Drug will sponsor the Beef and Dairy shows and will provide awards for the Supreme Beef Animals and the Showmanship contests.
North Arkansas Electric will sponsor Kid’s Day on Friday and registration will start at 9:30 am. Kid’s Day activities include a magician, Survival Flight Helicopter, KAIT Kid’s Weather Team, Fulton County Farm Bureau will have the “Ag In The Classroom display where kids can have a hands on agriculture experience, the big fire truck from Agnos-Glencoe-Heart Fire Department, and Viola Fire Department Fire Safety House. Salem FCCLA students will be there for face painting and North Arkansas Electric will serve a hot dog lunch and the day will conclude with door prizes. Pre-registration is encouraged to plan for the meal. Contact the Fulton County Fair Office at 870-895-5565 to pre-register.
Friday’s events continue with a Corn Hole Tournament at 3:00 p.m. or after the cattle shows. Those interested in the tournament should contact Denny Young at 501-658-6347. All entry fees will go for the fair scholarship program. Johnson Brothers Carnival will open at 6:00 p.m. and Chuck Young and Friends will have a concert in the Civic Center at 7:30 p.m. Sponsors of the concert are Dillard & Dillard Motor Co/Spartan, Dr. David Kaufman and Salem Family Clinic, and Welch, Couch & Co. PA. The concert is free with the regular gate admission. Come out and enjoy some good country music. There will be plenty of room for dancing.
Saturday is Hill’s Auto Sales Day at the Fair. The Fulton County Trap Range will have a sanctioned ATA Big 50 Tournament. Registration will be at 8:00 a.m. and the first flight is at 9:00 a.m. Contact Scott Moody for more information 870-371-0070. The Hickinbotham-Miller Exhibit Building will open at 11:00 a.m. on Saturday with photos of the Creative Arts Grand Champion Winners scheduled at 1:00 p.m. Grand Champion Poultry and Rabbit winners will have photos immediately following the Creative Arts winners.
The Junior Livestock Premium and the Cookie Jar Scholarship Auction will start at 4 p.m. in the Everett Show Arena. The Fulton County Fair Foundation will award seven $1000 scholarships to fair exhibitors who graduated from high school in May. 4-H and FFA members from Fulton County will offer goats, market hogs, calves, rabbits and the two top pens of pullets from the 4-H Poultry Chain for sale. Prior to the sale of animals, the Cookie Jar Scholarship Auction will be held. Exhibitors will donate decorated cookie jars for the auction. Funds from the cookie jar sale will be used for scholarships for graduating seniors who are active in the county, district and state fair. The Scholarship Auction and the Junior Premium Sale will be conducted by Perryman & Perryman Auction Company. Business owners and individuals are encouraged to support the youth involved in the fair by attending the sale and bidding. Persons who cannot attend the auctions can support the scholarship program and the Junior Livestock Program by making a cash donation. Contact the fair office or Auctioneer Danny Perryman, 870.458.2020 for information.
Centennial Bank Bingo will be in the Civic Center at 7:00 p.m. The Salem VFW Post 9777 will be calling and bingo lovers can win gift cards and certificates. A $100 gift card will be awarded by Centennial Bank for the final game of bingo. The bingo is free with a regular paid gate admission to the fair.
Hill’s Auto Sales, E-Communications, Salem Auto Supply and Leon’s Automotive will sponsor the Annual Truck Pull at 7:00 p.m. on Saturday for 2-wheel and 4-wheel drive trucks. Rules and classes are available on the Draggin Wagon website at www.dwpainc.com. For more information call Michael Roork at 870-371-0108 or contact Nikki at 417-259-1506.
100 Years of Fulton County’s Best Recipes will be on sale through out the fair. The books contain over 500 recipes and sell for $18. Be sure and get a copy of this historic cookbook and support the fair scholarship program.
Fair officials invite you to attend the 100th Annual Fulton County Fair July 22 – 27 in Salem Arkansas. Gate admission will cover all events except the carnival and admission is $6.00 for teens and adults, $4.00 for youth age 6-12 and under 6 is free. Parking is free. For more information on the Fulton County fair call 870-895-5565. Information on all fair events is available online at www.fultoncountyfair.org or on the Fulton County Fair Facebook page.o
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Cathy Drew is a lifelong resident of the region that she loves to promote. She was born in downtown Batesville in the late ’60s, located in one of the eight counties she now enjoys encouraging people to visit.
Drew became associated with the Ozark Gateway Region in 1990 while working at the ad agency (The Media Market Inc.). The agency handled marketing for the regional association, where she and her co-workers produced an annual tabloid publication. She began working as the Ozark Gateway Region director in June 2000.
After Drew became director, she took the region to the next level by helping the tourism organization create a new website and moved it from the old newspaper paper tabloid publication to a color magazine format. She helped open a visitor center for the Ozark Gateway, allowing visitors to pick up information from the entire state 24/7. Over the years, Drew has helped the organization meet new marketing goals, such as in- and out-of-state marketing, assuring that all 100,000 copies of their magazines are distributed each year.
In 2016, she assisted in creating the first Ozark Gateway Region Golf Classic. The tournament continues to grow each year, allowing the organization to expand its co-op program and helping each county have dedicated promotion. Drew stays busy at Ozark Gateway as the ad sales manager, magazine editor, day-to-day office operations, trade show representative, and magazine distribution representative, all while ensuring that the region is represented all over Arkansas and southern Missouri.
Drew was featured in several local and statewide publications over the years, as well as the 1997 cover of the Ozark Gateway Region tabloid, along with her then 4-year-old son, Jon. She has received several awards, such as the Batesville Rotarian of the Year in 2010 and a three-time Paul Harris Fellow.
She also has served as an Independence County election commissioner for several years. She now serves as their co-election coordinator, helping with behind-the-scenes management of voting equipment, day-to-day election deadlines, and poll worker training.
Drew serves on the Arkansas Travel Council Board of Directors, is Batesville Rotary Club Past President, and is the Rotary Clubs’ current publicity chair.
In March of 2018, Drew was honored with induction into the Arkansas Tourism Hall of Fame for her many years of dedicated service to the tourism industry.