Good Day Educators and Staff,
I know many of you are gearing up for the fair season and need some of this information for your own fairs. Please keep in mind that things are still developing and changing and I will do my best to keep everyone informed as things change. Below is information as of today – June 12, 2023
Webpage:
I am in the process of getting the most up-to-date information and necessary changes done. Please bear with me as this is not something I do regularly and with the departure of Jenn Bassmen this task has been left to myself and the State Team at this time. We will do our best to keep things updated as best we can. If you can not find something or need assistance, please do not hesitate to ask.
Premium Book:
I am finalizing edits and waiting for SF to finalize any changes they need to make. The overall classes and offerings have not changed from 2022. Once all the edits have been accepted, I will be able to share the 2023 premium book with everyone. I will post the new version on the website once it has been received. NO HARD COPIES WILL BE PROVIDED BY STATE FAIR. I also know that the Animal Science team is busy connecting with Superintendents and working with State Fair Admin to get the updated and correct Animal Show and competition information completed.
Youth Building:
All counties will fill booth space as districts. You can find the planning document and other helpful information on the State Fair page of the website. I have also attached the planning doc for your convenience. Space is at an absolute premium in the youth building and I am doing my best to accommodate the requests that have been and are being made. I plan to visit the youth building in the coming weeks to get a feel for where things are at and what all I can accommodate. If you have specific requests or needs, please let me know.
Arrival/Departure:
At this time, I believe that almost every county will be arriving the day before the fair opens and departing the day after labor day. I know that there are a few counties that will need to either arrive later or leave earlier than planned due to their home county fairs. Please communicate your plans for arrival/departure with me so that I may notify the necessary people and departments at State Fair to try and accommodate your needs. We also NEED this information so that the Evaluation Department (Wendy Richardson) can be sure to have evaluators at ready to get things evaluated in a timely manner. Please keep in mind that you will not be able to drive your vehicles through the fairgrounds during the operation of fair hours and you will have to have delivery passes to drive through the grounds outside of fair going hours. The gate security WILL NOT allow you to drive into the grounds without the proper credentials.
Passes:
I do not yet have the final word on the pass situation other than the majority of passes will most likely be electronic. State Fair has not yet settled the contract for passes at this time. In an effort to assist State Fair in planning to hopefully avoid a similar situation and difficulties of last year, I have offered to collect pass needs ahead of time. I do ask that you request exactly what you think you will need. Please do not inflate the number, State Fair was a bit frustrated that some counties requested 300 passes and then returned or did not use a large portion of them. Please use this link to place your initial pass request.
DEADLINE FOR PASS REQUESTS IS JULY 1, 2023
Evaluations:
Evaluators - Wendy has been hard at work recruiting evaluators and may still need a few in some areas. If you think you have evaluators that could possibly help, please reach out to Wendy to discuss (wlr45@cornell.edu) I know that Wendy is planning to have the majority of evaluations completed the 1st 5 days of the fair. If you have perishable items that may need other accommodations because they are arriving later please let her know.
Exhibit Inventories – I am in the process of getting the exhibit inventory sheets updated and edited with some small changes. Please stay tuned and I will get those on the website and sent out as soon as they are ready to do so. Please note that we ask that any county that can submit their lists ahead of time do so. Please email them to me and to Wendy. You will still need to bring hard copies with you (3 copies) to the evaluation office. The digital copies are so that we can get our spreadsheets and premium tracking sheets set up ahead of time. We are hoping that we can streamline the process and work toward getting premiums paid out to counties in a much more timely manner, but this will require having as much information ahead of time as possible.
Universal Eval Forms – Attached is the new Universal evaluation form (I am in the process of making it a fillable pdf). As there are no longer green cards we have modified the old form to fit the needs of our evaluators and have listened to the feedback we received at the conclusion of last year's fair to make a better form that will communicate the necessary information to the Evaluators. The are NO GREEN CARDS. We are also working on Exhibit Labels/Cards for use in your booth spaces to help identify projects. I currently have this in a Word format, but we are working on a Canva format and a fillable PDF format that will hopefully make it easier for folks to fill out. All of these forms and options will be available on the NYS 4-H Website (link above).
Youth Building Competitions:
Please keep an eye on the website and blog. I am updating information regularly as I hear from folks about events like PiNY, Cook Off, Fashion& Textile Review, Etc. Registrations for many of these will open within the next week or so and will be accepted for several weeks.
Dorms:
The dorms will once again be available for use at the NYS Fair. I will be working with Adam Davis in our office to get the registration up and running as soon as Career Ex has ended. Not much has changed with regard to the dorms. All adults staying in the dorms still need to be screened by your county and county educators/staff must sign off on the forms. Forms and such will be available in the coming weeks once Adam and I have had a chance to work on them.
Sparks Space:
I will offer the 1st of 2 sessions regarding State Fair on June 21st at 1 pm. The 1st session will focus on the basics of State Fair including planning, how to select projects for exhibition, deadlines, and other items of importance. Brian Aukema will also join the discussion from the Animal Science department to discuss any changes and updates in that area. There will also be time to ask any questions you may have.
As always I have happy to answer any questions that you may have and to assist in any way possible.
Have a great day!
Autumn
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