68th Baldwin County Fair Manager’s Message
From Fair Manager A.B. "Sonny" Hankins

To All Participants and Patrons:

The Baldwin County Cattle & Fair Association will sponsor the 66th Annual Baldwin County Fair, themed “Ribbons & Rides.” The Fair begins at 5 p.m. on Tuesday, September 20th and runs through midnight Saturday the 24th, 2016. “Ribbons & Rides” describes all the main events taking place during the fair. The Creative Arts Competition exhibits are judged to receive winning “Ribbons” and the Rodeo, Barrel Racing and Arnold Amusements, Inc. Midway provides the “Rides”.

September is the month that ushers in fair season, the beginning of all the twenty six Association of Alabama’s Fall Agricultural Fairs. Fall Fairs begin in September and end in November each year. Our fair is one of the state’s earliest scheduled fall fairs. All of the Agricultural Fairs in Alabama are organized with the same purpose, to emphasis education, entertainment and economic opportunities. I have visited almost all of the Alabama’s agricultural fairs, many in other states and all are composed of activities of both rural and city lifestyles. The opportunity for youth and adult organizations to engage in competitive agricultural themed programs is the role of each sponsoring organization. For the past 66 years, the Baldwin County Cattle & Fair Association has provided buildings and fairground space for all these activities.

The Baldwin County Fair agenda sponsors social & competitive activities open for all citizens of our county. Students, Senior Citizens, Military Personnel, Veterans, and other special populations have a targeted invitation to attend the fair. Children under the age of 12 years of age pay no fair entry fee, and parking on our fairgrounds has always been “free of charge”.

The Baldwin County Cattle & Fair Association’s board of directors meets all requirements of the Alabama Association of Fairs, Merit Award Program and the State Department of Agriculture and Industries. In 2015, the Baldwin County Fair was awarded special recognition for performance in the Class AAA as an Excellent Fair. I was voted the 2015 Best Fair Manager of the year, by the Association of Alabama Fairs.

During this past year, the Baldwin County Fair was honored to receive a special donation gift from the Fred and Vivian Urban Family. Joan Urban and her husband Captain Mark Robinson presented two antique metal toys, brought from Germany when Joan’s grandparents immigrated to Ellis Island, in New York. The family originally settled and worked in Chicago, before moving to Alabama to a farm next to the Floyd Ellison farm. Joan’s brother Freddie and his young buddies spent many rainy days playing with these toys. Joan is the daughter of Fred and Vivian Urban who lived in Rosinton Community. See the photo inside. In addition to all the Creative Arts exhibits, booth displays, livestock, rodeo, and barrel racing, there is one magical out of town guest that arrives, the Midway. It appears from somewhere with fascinating splendor, spreading joy and excitement, then disappears, as if never having been there at all. What would a Fair be without a Midway?

Hope you have as good of a time as Melinda and I did last year,

Sincerely,
A.B. "Sonny" Hankins