Morgan County Fair opened this morning with perennial Ribbon Cutting

By Benjamin Cox on July 11, 2018 at 11:36am

The Morgan County Fair has officially begun!

The Board of the Fair welcomed members of the community, as well as this year’s fair royalty, at the 4-H Pavilion on the Morgan County Fairgrounds this morning for the annual ribbon cutting that serves as the official beginning of fair festivities.

The Morgan County Fairgrounds were purchased over 160 years ago, and they have stood the test of time as folks from all around the county and state gather to celebrate both the traditions and growth of the County and everyone who calls Morgan County home.

Fair Board President Jay Harris has details on some events you won’t want to miss.

“We’ve got a lot of new events here at the fair and lots of different things going on. Tonight we’ve got the Ultimate Horse Challenge as well as the Talent Show this evening. Sheep judging is going on today. Tomorrow, we’ve got our rodeo. The rodeo is something we used to have and thought we’d bring it back. That’s a free event, along with all of our other horse shows. The demolition derby is back. Mike Brown Productions is our new demo promoter, and we’re really excited about that. We’ve gotten a lot of good feedback about him. Kane Brown is Friday, Saturday we have Dustin Lynch. There are still tickets for that Saturday show, but they’re going fast, and then we’ll have a full day of tractor pulls on Sunday.”

Jacksonville Mayor Andy Ezard, a lifelong Morgan County resident, says just how many fairs he has attended and also describes how the fair has impacted him over the years.

“Well I’ll be 50 in November, so this is probably my 48th County Fair. As long as I can remember growing up in Jacksonville I’ve been going to the fair. My parents brought me, then I got the chance to bring my kids, and now I’m here as an adult and representative of the city of Jacksonville because my kids are old. Good times at the fair. A couple of years ago, I got to introduce ’38 Special’ as they went onstage, so that was a pretty special moment for me.”

Newly crowned Morgan County Fair Queen Savanna Long says she will allow the events this week to help the crown settle on her head, and recalls a special pair of red boots.

“It still feels like a dream. I woke up this morning and honestly couldn’t believe it still. I’m excited to see Kane Brown and Dustin Lynch this weekend, and I’m also very proud to be able to compete and represent Morgan County at the state pageant. I had these little red cowboy boots that I refused to take off when I was in kindergarten, and I wore them to every fair, so that’s definitely a huge fair memory for me.”

For more information on everything you can find over at the Fairgrounds this week and weekend, head online to our homepage at wlds.com and click on the 2018 County Fairs tab.