GNFA looking ahead

The Georgia Agricultural Exposition Authority has its eyes on the immediate future and not-so-immediate future.

Ransom Moore, authority executive director, said Wednesday he was optimistic this year presents an “opportunity for a very special fair,” and cited advance concert ticket sales to date for Alabama and Rascal Flatts.

Moore said ticket sales are at $484,000, or 88 percent of the $550,000 needed to break even. He noted there were five weeks left before the fair’s Oct. 8 opening.

The fair might emulate the Iowa Corn Caucus poll – a very unofficial poll where people vote for presidential candidates using corn kernels in Mason jars ­– but with a Georgia twist: peanuts in Mason jars.

Stacy Campbell, director of marketing and media relations, said it would be called the Peanut Presidential Poll Sponsored by the Peanut Commission. The jars would feature the candidate’s logo, peanuts would be counted each night so they could be used again, there would be no limit on the number of times a person could “vote,” and daily results would be posted on a website.

The details are still being finalized, she said, and letters are being sent next week to announced candidates in both parties.

The authority also heard from vice chairman Foster Rhodes and others about a trip they had made last month to the state fair in Minnesota. One exhibit in particular grabbed their attention: the CHS Miracle of Birth Center.

A Holstein cow delivered a calf, said chairman James Sutherland, and children viewing the event broke into applause and cheers. The exhibit was one of the more popular ones at the fair, said youth director Jim Floyd.

Several different state agencies worked together to ensure the exhibit’s success, said Rhodes, and big screens outside the building allowed viewing by those who couldn’t get in.

“It’s certainly something for the future,” he said.

In other action, the authority approved a request from the city of Perry to use two fairgrounds trams and 30 barricades for the Perry Music Festival Sept. 19-20.

The authority also approved a request from the Houston County Sheriff’s Office for a $2 per hour increase in salary for non-mandated deputies working at the fair.
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