a church member

Just to let you know. . . the Fair Association has NOT yet gave the church youth group a refund. They have NOT made a public apology yet either. How much time do they need to figure out what is the RIGHT thing to do????

vitagirl

All of you need to go to the original article on this issue and read the 50 + comments there. While you are there, read the two comments under my screen name - vitagirl - that is, if you really want to know the TRUTH in this entire matter. I was there...I was one of the church members that was harassed on Wednesday. Read my two comments and then you will know the truth....if you really want to know the TRUTH. If you were not actually physically there...then stop all this nonsense about saying you really know what happened. To the person with the comment on behalf of the "VFD"-- you really should send what happened to you into the editorial section of the newspaper. Obviously, there are more issues with the County Fair and with the Fair Officials than just low prices on 3 items from a local vendor. It bothers me to realize what sad state of affairs our county is really in if these are the issues at hand. All of us need to voice up and take action and make Rowan County -- the whole County, not just the Fair, something we can be proud of. Please read my 2 comments on the other section. Then you will know the truth.....yes, the TRUTH!!!!!

Monk

Well sherri you like to scream (cap's).Try screaming for them to post a copy of the rowan county fair contract for vendors.So all can see just what up and who is at fault.As far as Christmas goes try telling a child you can go to the fair but you cant eat and ride , one or the other we just dont have the money to do both.Ive seen many make more money chargeing lower prices and bringing in more people ,Than chargeing high prices and trying to make more money on fewer people.So come on show us the contract we would all like to know the rules.

sherri

check this out people at the fair come because they want to come to the fair. it's not like we go to their doors and make them come to the fair. each year the fair comes around and everyone is aware of the prices of the fair. and they choose to coem and spend their money like they want to. if you don't like the prices of stuff like must people you walk around and check for someone cheaper to buy from but each person knows that they buy something at the fair. think about this what if you were one of the vendor's there and wanted to sell your stuff....don't lie to yourself because you knwo yourself that you would price the prices right with the other peoples prices because you want the business.......but everyone there has a guide line that they have to follow and they know this going into the fair. so if one person is trying to lower their prices to get more business then that isn't fair to everyone else because from what i understand everyone is there to help someone so it would be selfish for one to lower the prices and get ALL THE BUSINESS.......that isn't being a team player.......that would mean that all the other vendor's would lose out on helping other people just as well as you or the next person helping someone......let's looks at this fair. well the way i see it if one person leaves because of this it is maybe because they didn't want to go by the rules and they lost out when they had to leave ALL because they didn't want to GO BY THE RULES........that means they lost out for themselves and the other vendors got to stay..........people think this is funny. look at the big picture if the fair closing down then the good things that the fair does for people want be able to happen anymore......they give to families at christmas and help out other people with things that they can't afford and that want happen anymore cause THE MONEY WANT BE THERE.......and is that fair to a children that the parents can't afford to buy them something......i would like to see someone explain that to a 5 year old children......your not going to get anything for christmas just because one person didn't want to follow the rules.......they would be heart broken.....and there would be nothing you could say to them about it.......and for another thing the people that lefted the fair just think because they didn't want to follow the rules they lost alot of money and the things that they were going to do THEY WANT BE ABLE TO DO IT KNOW ......ALL BECAUSE THEY COULDN"T FOLLOW THE RULES......how can we explain and try and teach our children to do the right things if we don't do them??????

jt

the fair was fun and i loved it. i went on thrusday,friday and saturday night and i enjoyed all of it. the food was great and my mom didn't mine paying for it. she said that the prices were good and that that was the way the fair was. she only didn't like one price of something because it was 6.00 and told me that i didn't need it. but she said that it was still a fair price she just didn't want to pay that much. i don't want the fair to go away cause i want to go next year and the year after and so on. PLEASE STOP ALL OF THIS STUFF.........because of one person.

Betty

Cotton Candy is very bad for you. It is nothing but sugar and empty calories. It will make you sleepy and fat. It should be banned from the fair.

sherri

what if the fair closing down and the people that have children can't take their children to the fair???? which makes the children upset because they look for it all year long and we have had the fair every year and the kids get to have fun and play. but if we all had to take our kids to carowinds then we could get really upset about the prices of stuff. because the prices at the fair are within reason of us going out to eat most places. we can't pay 1.00 for a drink at the fair or 2.50 for a hamburger but i know alot of people that take their kids to carowinds and never get upset about their prices. people need to stop and think about what they say and how it will affect other people. some people get there feeling hurt over nothing but others on the other hand take things way to serious to. we all need to stop trying to shut downt he fair.

sherri

i was at the fair and did notice that the mid-way prices were really high. and ALL the local venders pricing was more then reasonable. i though that the fair this year was fun,entertating,and the grounds were very clean. all the vendors were good from which i got food from and they were really nice to me and my family and we had a wonderful time. the fair was much better then prior years and who every is running it this years fair is doing a wonderful job( which much be love). in reading the comments i see that there is a miss understanding of some sort and from the outside looking in i think that the cotton candy lady made her on choice and maybe she shouldn't come back next year if she feels this way and i think that all the vendors did a wonderful job and including the fair board. i think that everybody just needs to let it go. because i think that they need to keep the people over the fair this year there. and i look forward to seeing you all next year and you did a great job!

DOC

Agreed that the prices needed to be reasonable. However for reasonable to mean the same to both parties it has to be a meeting of the minds. The average person would interpret reasonable as anything that would and does sell to a customer, or what is the most we can actually sell it for? The perspective of "undercutting the sweet confection competition is similar to someone offering to come in and do your job for half the salary you're being paid". That HAS been and IS happening to the American Worker for years with no one in authority wanting to take responsibility for it. the jobs the couldn't find cheaper labor for they ship outside the U.S. And why not let the midway itself set the price of cotton candy as in capitalism.

Ash

I agree that the prices were unreasonably high considering what you got for that price. I did not purchase any food or drink or anythin of that nature there this year because of that. Someone needs to take control of the situation and do something about it. As for shutting down Mrs Stirewalt.....that, in my opinion, was uncalled for. If she was selling her items at a lower price to benefit charity there should have been no problem in that. That comes to show you that there are some very selfish and inconsiderate human beings in this world to shut down someone that is raising money for such special causes.

VFD

Fridays Fair was the best! There was cotton candy, funnel cakes, and firetrucks........No, No FIRETRUCKS! And why, one might ask, was there no firetruck? Because there was yet another fried food vendor that had enough cash money, or pesos as it were, to wave in front of Johnny Love's face that he thought "who cares about the Volunteer Fire Departments?" That's correct ladies and gentlemen, Mr. Love sold the spot right out from under the Rowan County Fire and Rescue Association. Did they bring in any money for the "Fair"? Well no, but then again they were providing free fire protection for the fairgrounds.(Kinda sounds like maybe he should've been paying them huh?) The worst part about it is that for whatever amount of money changed hands, they took an oppritunity away from your kids. Most kids only associate firetrucks with tragedy. But a firetruck can be a multifunctional piece of public education. Couple that with the interaction with the brave women and men that protect your lives and property every day, and they could have learned the most, from one of the few "free" attractions there! Oh well, let's see what the county can get involved in next! I vote for parades! Let's auction off each square foot along the parade route to the highest bidder. That way all those Fire and Rescue vehicles that are on every corner will have to pay extra, just to save your life! We really are a simple bunch, we just happen to have a dangerous hobby. We really aren't after the fame and glory. But when you take away one of the few chances to interact with the public, so someone can sell some burritos.......that's a bit much. The main thing is to keep calling us when you need us, we'll be there! By the way, Atwell's new truck sure does look good all shined up, hate everyone missed it!

bigdave

On Sat we my wife and I took our 2 grandchildren to the fair. After arriving at 6:00 we took them to see the animals and then went to the petting barn.We saw the tigers and elephants and then went to ride some rides. The rides they have there are second to none and are better than some amusement parks. All the ride operators we dressed neat and were very nice to us. The food vendor booths were clean and the decorations all around looked very nice. We bought food from several vendors with no complaints at all. On our way out I bought them cotton candy (small bag not jumbo) with no complaints. Great job Jaycees you worked hard and it showed. My grandchildren are ready to go back next year. Its sad that you have people who don't know any better than to knock Mr Love for doing his job. The one thing you have to remember is that most people don't understand what goes on to put a fair on or how much work it takes.Sure its easy to sit here and write anything about anybody but they are ignorant to the fact. Rhonda was wrong and that's that This isn't the first time she has pulled this stunt and won't be the last. She is such a nice lady is what I have read but I know different. This isn't the place to sling mud but Mr. Love has taken some shots that were out of line and there is always two sides to the story. By the way the fair has been voted the best in the state on their size so to all you nuts who say it is nothing but trash you are either jealous or couldn't tell your ---- from a whole in the ground. Good work Jaycees-- Keep it up and see ya next year.

Dusty Rhoades

"It clearly states in the contracts that are given out to each vendor before the fair starts that prices must stay within a REASONABLE margin of other vendors. And her prices were by no means were within a reasonable amount of difference." If compared with the commercial vendors on the midway . . . no. However, "No where in the contract was any vendor ever told that they had to practice price gaulging." The commercial vendors on the midway do just that. It would appear that Ms. Stirewalt's prices were just enough to cover expenses with a relatively smaller profit margin, and yet allow the charity group to raise some money. "All of the county vendors were within fair market pricing." On what basis is "fair market pricing" calculated in this instance? The commercial vendors on the midway probably have higher overhead costs; but on the otherhand, their supplies/consumables will be lower because they buy is much larger quantities. The offset between price/cost will still be there, but I don't believe the offset is so great to justify the rip-off pricing used by the commercial vendors on the midway. "There were several booths selling hamburgers for 2.50 fries for 1.50 drinks for a 1.00 etc..." ". . . and Love and the rest of them were fine with all of that pricing . . ." Then why was Ms. Stirewalt singled out? It doesn't take a rocket scientist to see that something is not quite right here. ". . . thus for the accusations that they were trying to cut throat and be unfair are untrue and a misrepsentation of their charactors and intentions." I don't think their personal characters are in question here. However, their professional characters and demeanor speak for themselves and leave a lot to be desired. As for their intentions? It seems to me that they succumbed to the complaints and pressures from the commercial vendors on the midway at the expense of the citizens of the county. There are a couple things that really bother me about this whole thing - 1) how can one vendor, trying to raise money for a worthy cause, really have that much of an impact on all the commercial vendors on the midway?, and 2) I thought a county fair was for the people of the county? When commercial interests take precedence, its time to either close the fair for good, replace the fair mamnagement or do away with the midway itself.

Angela Honeycutt

first and foremost Love, Kiker, and the rest of the people on the board are kind,helpful,and fair individuals. They go out of their way and donate their time to help other people. They work long hard hours out there and take off from their paying jobs to work out there to help raise money for our county. which helps with the children at christmas time and families in need and so forth. It sickens me that everyone can keep downing these people and critisizing them but fail to mention all of the good that they are doing for our community. Now just a few things; ALL of the vendors there have lower prices then the fair itself, just think about that. they could raise their prices to match but they do not they are cheaper so that it will not be so expensive for our families to have a night at the fair. For some of these vendors this is their livelyhood, they can not give it away for free or just break even on their expenses. there has to be some sort of profit for them. Also, in reference to the cotton candy ordeal, there were two sizes of cotton candy being sold, a small bag and a big bag. Mrs. Stirewalt was selling her BIG bags of cotton candy for a VERY sigifigent amount less than even the smaller bags that all the other vendors had (which were still cheaper then on the midway were the carnival workers were). In my opinion that is cut throat and greedy. Stirewalt clearly had to be aware that by selling not only her cotton candy signifigently cheaper, but the big bags at that, would almost guarentee her to get the majority of the buisness and that is cut throat and not fair to the other vendors at all. It clearly states in the contracts that are given out to each vendorbefore the fair starts that prices must stay within a REASONABLE margin of other vendors. And her prices were by no means were within a reasonable amount of difference. Stirewalt knew that these were the terms when she came out there to vend and intentionally broke the contract. she could have stayed and been in fair comparison with the other vendors and made a very good donation for her charities but she chose not too. No where in the contract was any vendor ever told that they had to practice price gaulging. All of the county vendors were within fair market pricing. There were several booths selling hamburgers for 2.50 fries for 1.50 drinks for a 1.00 etc... that is cheaper than the restaurants that we eat at. and Love and the rest of them were fine with all of that pricing thus for the accusations that they were trying to cut throat and be unfair are untrue and a misrepsentation of their charactors and intentions. Love and kider held a meeting of the vendors the night before stirewalt left and went over the contract one more time and was very nice to everyone and gave everyone the opportunity to discuss any problems, questions or concerns they might have and stirewalt never raised her hand and never said a word. everyone was once again familiarized with the contract verbally and given every opportunity to stay and continue vending including stirewalt. she chose not to stay by not following the contract. And in reference to someone saying that the prices were to high on all the food at the fair how can that be true how is 1.00 to high for a drink or 1.50 to much for a fry and so on and so forth like i said that is cheaper than some of our local restaurants so do you not eat out anymore? In reference again to the assumption of the overcharging and people not being able to afford it lets just look at some of the prices of the stuff at nazareths childrens home think about it the stuff they sale is donated to them for free and then they resale it. Primarely to people that can not afford to go out and buy brand new items. well why would they sale a dressor that is donated to them for 200.00 or even 150.00 i think that it should sale for cheaper since it was free for them , no expense in it at all it is even deliverd there so no waste in gas and they sale those items as if they had some sort of expense in it and at a price that you could almost get a new one for at leat the people at vendors at the fair have a excuse for selling their stuff at a reasonable rate "they have to pay for the stuff to sale". THE BIG PICTURE" lOVE,KIKER, and the other members on the board come out and donate long hours and days helping to get this county ready for the fair. they do things to help all the vendors out whenever they have a problem they help prepare for everything out there they take time off and lose money from their daily jobs to donate their time they are kind they are helpful and they are caring and not once do you EVER hear them complain or ask for anything out of it.. they just like to see the smiles on the families and childrens faces that come out there to enjoy the festivities and help needy families and thats all they want from it that makes them happy., they should stay and the vendors that are trying to cut throat and do not be respectful to the other vendors and our community need to leave,. think about this one last thing...this whole cotton candy thing starts this big controversy people are suggesting shutting the fair down. and then the fair is not here next year and our kids are sad and we all miss getting the community together for this event and winning the prizes and running in to our first grade teacher or seeing that old friend , getting that hamburger ot porkchop sandwich that you only get from our vendors at the fair and you look foward to that again next year, and now all this is gone over one vendor that in all honesty was pissed because she could not cut others vendors prices and sales just so she could get the most money for her charities of choice only... (other vendors have charities to that lose out when she does this) ....all this gone over that... I dont think so....... love stays and if you do not want to be a team player then do not join the team.

Richard Sorensen

I was awarded a Best of Show in the Arts Crafts Division at the County Fair but I have refused to allow the Fair personnel to transport my work and enter it into the State Fair. Workers at the County Fair significantly damaged one of my other entries and then denied the incident. Within half an hour of the time it was entered, a hand-carved piece for the decorative arts section was broken into three pieces. I brought that to the attention of the Fair workers in the information booth, who said they “would look into it.” At the time for picking up entries Fair officials claimed that the damaged item had been “broken by my me at the time it was taken out of the box;” therefore, they had not been at fault. That was patently untrue since I had carried the item in my hands when I delivered it whole and had not “taken it out of the box.” The other two hand-carved items I submitted received Best of Show in Arts and Crafts and first place in sculpture. Given the evident quality of work and care that awards like that signify, I submit that it would be highly unlikely that I would have submitted something broken in three pieces for judging. I understand that most of the workers at the Fair are volunteers who generously give their time and expertise; but, that does not excuse the cavalier irresponsibility and overblown sense self-importance that was exhibited by Fair officials toward me. Fair officials universally indicated that I was trying to put something over on them and that they were totally blameless. I did not expect anybody to do anything dramatic in response to the incident. However, I did expect someone to just acknowledge the accident and offer an apology not a string of implausible and untrue denials. In addition to this incident, the calculations of prizes earned in other categories were incorrect. The scheduling of live floral arrangements and perishable food items to be received on Saturday and judged on Monday indicated that Fair officials were either operating to maximize their own convenience or simply incompetent. Such attitudes and arrogant irresponsibility, coupled with the “cotton candy flap" indicate that the Fair is in the wrong hands and managed in way that brings discredit to the county.

BEM

I have been to the fair once since my grandmother stopped working at the Locke Township Fire Dept. stand YEARS ago. When I did go back much to my disappointment, Lock's booth was gone and the vendors were unrecognizable with prices that were much to high then and that has been at least 15 years ago now. The fair use to be for local vendors, farmers, bakers and so on....that has long gone with the desire to make more money. If the fair remains the way it is and with Love in place next year, boycott it! If it gets turned into something else that brings in profit for the county, boycott it too!!!!!!!!!

Don't wast your money

I thought that not only was the price for cotton candy high, but all other food and drink prices were high as well. I bought none of it, but brought my own food and drink to the fair with me. Now, that the "officials" know that, I suppose they will outlaw anyone bring food and drink to the fair to consume. Since the fair has gotten out of hand, maybe it is time to consider shutting it down, or making major changes.