Even with no state fair, projects are still underway

Posted on August 28, 2020
Kevin Gordon, manager of the Illinois State Fair, says there are still things happening on the fairgrounds in Springfield. (Photo courtesy: WJBC/File)

By Dave Dahl

SPRINGFIELD – Even with no Illinois State Fair in 2020, fair manager Kevin Gordon says there’s still work to do at the fairgrounds in Springfield.

“We have numerous projects going on,” Gordon says. “The beautification of the grounds; we have new roofs going up on the Illinois Auditorium, the Expo Building, the Junior Livestock Building, our south sheep barn, our Hobbies, Arts, and Crafts Building.”

And the fairgrounds still hosts events such as the junior livestock show, set for mid-September.

Gordon says planning for the fair is a year-round process, even in June, when the governor announced this year’s fair would be cancelled.

“I joked about this: it would have been, probably, a lot less work to actually have the fair than to go ahead and cancel the fair.”

Dave Dahl can be reached at [email protected]. 

Blogs

Labor Day – Expanding voting rights for all

By Mike Matejka Because of COVID, there is no Labor Day Parade this year.  It’s always a great event for our everyday workers to march proudly down the street and enjoys the festive crowd. If there had been a parade, this year’s Labor Day theme was to be “150 years of struggle: your right to vote.” …

Is federal mobilization the answer?

By Mike Matejka As President Donald Trump threatens to send federal marshals into Chicago, over the objections of Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker, recall another Illinois Governor who protested the incursion of armed federal personnel into the city.   Those federal troops, rather than calming, escalated the situation, leading to deaths and violence. Illinois poet Vachel Lindsay…

In these troubled times, to my fellow white Americans

By Mike Matejka Our nation is at a unique watershed in human relations. African-Americans have been killed too many times in the past before George Floyd, but the response to this man’s death is international and all-encompassing. I was a grade-schooler during the Civil Rights 1960s. I watched Birmingham demonstrators hosed and the Selma – Montgomery…

Workers’ Memorial Day – Remember those whose job took their life

Looking around our community, when we say employer, most will respond to State Farm, Country, or Illinois State University.   We too often forget those who are building our roads, serving our food, or our public employees. COVID-19 has made us more aware of the risk.  Going to work every day for some people means…