Wine Connoisseurs Delight raises more than $5,000 toward fairgrounds sidewalk project

By Bob Steenson, bsteenson@charlescitypress.com

A night of fine wine, fresh foods and friendly fun raised more than $5,000 to be used to help put in sidewalks at the Floyd County Fairgrounds.

The Wine Connoisseurs Delight, held Friday evening at the Youth Enrichment Center at the fairgrounds, gathered almost 150 people for the annual fundraiser.

“Our goal was to hit that $5,000 mark and we went over that. We were hoping to have 150 people in house and we had sold just over 140-some tickets,” said Floyd County Fair Board President Amy Staudt.

“So, little by little, the goals we set are achieved and successful and we’re hoping to start the sidewalks here as soon as spring,” she said. Whether the project can be completed next year will depend on the bid prices, she said.

The project was started by a suggestion and a donation from Rich and Barb Stewart of Floyd.

“They came to the Fair Board and gave a donation and said, ‘We’d like to see sidewalks out there,’” Staudt said.

She said the fairgrounds has unlevel area, and with grandparents attending to watch their grandkids show animals or for other events, and people who use walkers or wheelchairs, sidewalks just seemed like a good idea.

The buildings at the fairgrounds – being repaired, replaced or added to since the Memorial Day tornado of 2019 left many of them in shambles — were not quite finished last year, and there wasn’t enough money raised to start the sidewalk project, Staudt said.

“We’re hoping everything goes according to plan and we can get everything taken care of and get the whole sidewalk system in there” next year, she said. “We’ll start with whatever funding we have and we’ll keep adding to it until it’s complete.”

The building projects at the fairgrounds are complete, so the major projects still remaining are the sidewalks and one parking lot that fundraising hasn’t started on, she said.

“Every year the Fair Board puts together a priority list of where we can go, what needs to be done, from suggestions we get throughout the community. We’re taking all those in and go with as with funding comes in for it, little by little,” she said.

“We’ve actually made a lot of progress here over the last couple of years,” Staudt added.

In addition to construction planning, she said the Fair Board is already busy planning next summer’s Floyd County Fair.

The board is beginning to book attractions and entertainment, so if anyone has suggestions they can post them on the fair’s Facebook page, Staudt said.

In December, Staudt and some others will attend the annual Iowa Fair Association conference held in Des Moines.

“We get a lot of information for events and things for youth and for all ages. We’re looking forward to going to that in the first week in December and bringing back some good ideas on what we can do and maybe change a little bit in our lineup for entertainment,” she said.

“When you go there there’s always a bunch of vendors set up and you can go to each of their rooms and their tables and get their information and find out pricing. That’s where we get a lot of our big acts and different entertainment,” she said.

It’s also an opportunity to talk with people from other county fairs, about what worked and didn’t work at their fairs.

“It’s an informational tool that we take advantage of every year,” Staudt said.