Bang or Bust Volume 2: My Time at the Tri-County Fair

Bang or Bust Volume 2: My Time at the Tri-County Fair

For those interested in reading the first volume, find it here.

Full disclosure – I didn’t go to the concert, the rodeo or the derby. This article is about the general part of the fair and taking the family there.

I’m going to cut to the chase – we had a great time. My kids are at that age (11 and 8) where they were royally pumped all week. And since moving them from Big Pine to Bishop schools, they had a lot more friends who were going and their interest was even greater than last year.

The rides were great. The Zipper and The Gravitron (it’s called something else now but it will always be The Gravitron in this house), Hot Wheels, two ferris wheels. Good stuff, and hours of enjoyment from the kids.

I left them at the rides with some friends and checked out all the exhibits (our photo gallery of the exhibits will be available soon). So many wonderful, talented people in this area. So much fun.

The 9/11 exhibit was both interesting and heartbreaking. As time passes, it can be easy to forget just how many people gave their lives that day. The event truly changed the course of our country, and walking through was another stark reminder of that. You can find more info here.

Now let’s get to the stuff that could use some work.

The prices are pretty high. Wristbands for the rides are creeping up near $40. With two or three kids, and if you want to ride with them, it adds up quickly.

A chicken skewer that I could make at home for around $4 is $18. I get it, people need to make money. They need to make their money back for the lot space they are renting. They need to make money to offset the high cost of food and the gas to get there. I guess I’d like to see more local vendors with prices more in line with what you pay in town. Maybe that’s a pipe dream, but I’m not the only one who has it.

From what I’m reading online, there are a lot of people saying that the fair used to be A LOT busier. Maybe if the prices were just a little more in line with what things should actually cost, we might draw more of a crowd.

The games, at least the ones we played, were $10-$12 dollars for each play. For those especially, it seemed like the cost far exceeded the value.

I’m not throwing shade here. We had a great time. We’ll be going back next year. But if we as a community have ideas about how we can make this great fair better, it might be a good idea to express them.

On Butt-Hurt Owens Valley (check out the excellent podcast online), Ashlee Nicole commented:

“Did the fair make you butt hurt? Did it alleviate your butt hurt? I’ll be butt hurt if you don’t share what you loved and what chapped your ass by writing a letter to the interim CEO and the board. It’s OUR fair, we have to participate in order to make it what we want and not just be complaining online.”

I happened to share those sentiments.

What worked for you?  What didn’t?  What would you like to see different next year?  Comment below.

Tanner Rush