Its Almost Fair Time

[OklaCity_75]

I wonder if they still give it out the free fair tickets in schools?

I remember all through grade school we would get a free ticket from our teachers.

As a family we used go out there at least three times during the course of the fair.

[bandnerd]

I've never received free tickets to give out to students.

[OklaCity_75]

They probably do not do it anymore. Back in the 80's when I was in elementary and jr. high they gave out free fair tickets almost every year.
I am sure since then someone screamed about it and they changed it.

Back then most of metro schools included day off for fair day in school calendar. I am sure since then someone screamed about it and they changed it.

[ETL]

One problem with the fair is that it is TOO long. It needs to only be five to seven days long instead of ten. Also, I think the fair should be physically redone through the next five to ten years and should be completed in phases. The price of the booths should be rented through three, five, and ten year contacts, and designate one or two buildings for one year contacts. The fair should implement a program similar to the one that Mazzio’s once had. The fair should give out free and discount coupons to each child in the OKC metro area that reads a designated number of books in the following two weeks (changes per grade). The kids will BEG their parents to go. ;-) Also, the fair could sell coupon books with coupons on food and other things along with a map. The entrance to the fair is TOO HIGH. Lower it by a dollar. Having a shorter fair would help. The longer it is, the more it costs.

Go to http://img168.imageshack.us/my.php?image=fairgp2.jpg to see map.

1. Redo the courtyard with the train and the outside of the building. I don’t know about the inside.
2. Reconstruct some of the interior, but mostly the outside needs to be a little more attractive.
3. Modernize the Space Needle. Ask companies to sponsor this through advertisements that can be posted on the inside along with the history of the Space Needle. Oh, the Space Needle should cost maybe one or two dollars to ride for an adult and free for 12 and under.
4. Make this the Oklahoma History Building. Have venders along the interior wall and in the center between the interior and exterior wall. Have local artists tell a story of the history of Oklahoma through a floor to ceiling mural. Companies can sponsor sections of the wall with a sign that says, “Sponsored by: blah blah blah.” Below that can be the history and the meaning of that section of the mural, and under that can be the artist’s name. The mural should make a circle like the building; it should blend the past and present when the circle is complete. The courtyard can have local plants that thrive in Oklahoma along with the plants name. The courtyard can be sponsored by companies or have locals sponsor the plants with their name. The exterior just needs some paint and landscaping along with the new name.
5. Reconstruct the bleachers area or at least make it attractive.
6. Save the old house and do something with this building.

I also think we need to rebuild the monorail. From the info on http://www.monorails.org/tMspages/HowMuch.html, there is a monorail in Carr West, England that is not expensive and is the size we need. We could build one like this one. I estimate its cost to be $7.86 million. Keep in mind that I am no expert. The two stations would be great to get from one side of the park to the other. Day passes could be sold for so much, or year passes could be sold. Oh, don’t forget local sponsors could help in the cost.

This is what is being done on the other side. http://www.okstatefairpark.com/press...onpictures.htm

These are just some ideas that popped in my head. Let me know what you think.

[Patrick]

I think shortening the fair to less than 10 days is the most ridiculous comment I've heard all day.

[ETL]

Why not? At the least tell me why.

What of my other ideas? Good or Bad?

[Patrick]

Why not? At the least tell me why.

Money!

Why shorten the fair? Let's offer people more of an opportunity to go to it.

For that matter, I say bring back the Spring Fair.

The fairgrounds are incredibly under used by the general public.

[okiemom]

I'm going. We're giving tickets to our employees and their families again this year.
By the way, Blake Shelton, Jo Dee Messina and Sawyer Brown are well known entertainers. I've had the pleasure of seeing all of them in concert.

Shooter Jennings is a different story. Don't waste your money.

[Patrick]

Oh, the rest of your ideas are fine. I didn't mean to sound critical.

[Patrick]

Really, the exterior of all of the buildings need a face lift. And all of the areas could be better landscaped.

[ETL]

Well, I think it costs more money to have it 10 days long. That is why it costs sooo much.

How do I get my ideas out?

[Patrick]

What you're going to find is that most vendors aren't going to come and put all of the work into setting up if it's only going to last 5 days.

[OklaCity_75]

Several state and local businesses set up booth out there. If you shorten, the time of fair some businesses will not buy space just because of all the hassle of setup. Some of those booths take a few days to setup and it is not worth the time and effort to tear it down 5 days later.

The new car areas alone probably take a week to set up. The food vendors usually go through a long setup process as well. They have to go through health department inspections before they open.

Personally, I think its perfect right where it stands. It opens on a Friday and closes the next weekend on Sunday. This gives people a full week and two weekends to visit.

In the past, the fair ran 17 or 18 days. Back then, it really was not worth going after the 10th day because everything was picked over and the stench of beer and garbage was everywhere.

[ETL]

Is there a website about the committee that decides this stuff?

[rocket60s]

SoonerDave, I agree totally. Another thing I would suggest would be to ditch the "love a fair" and go back to the original fair theme song, just to let everyone know Skip's gone.

[SoonerDave]

The saddest, most pathetic part of the whole thing is that those who have been watching the fair (more or less helplessly) from the outside also noticed that Wegner's exit was very quiet. It was as though the emperor truly was wearing no clothes, and finally someone admitted it and got him out.

When this stuff was underway a couple years back, I wrote about my concerns to the State Fair Board, to my city councilman Jerry Foshee, the mayor (then Kirk Humphreys), the Oklahoman, and to a local radio station. To my surprise, my letter to the Oklahoman was published and the radio station read my letter on-air. It drew out quite a bit of similar response, so to that I end I believe I was merely the tip of the iceberg representing, at least in a general sense, a much broader sense of sympathetic opinion. That next fall, there were "poll" kiosks all over the fair asking questions like "Do you like the changes," "What's the most important change we should make," things like that.

I agree that making the fair 5 days is too short. I, personally, didn't mind the 17-day fair, but its also hard to argue that the general, ahem, aura of the fair was not the best after two weekends. You must span two weekends, plus the first Friday. A ten-day fair is a good fit. I think a longer fair creates the perception that you have lots of time to go to the fair, so it reduces the sense of urgency, which is another (admittedly odd) reason why attendance has ebbed.

One reason they extended to 17 days was in the hope of reaching that magical 2 million mark in attendance. At its peak, the fair was hitting somewhere in the vicinity of 1.4-1.7M in attendance, though later claims have arisen that those attendance figures were a bit inflated.

The Fair discontinued the free tickets to schools programs many years ago just as the schools abolished fair day. I think the discovery was that, in practice, very few of the tickets were actually being used. Although my family usually went to the fair at least twice, we never did go on "fair day." And schools become very tight about their calendars due to external day-count requirements, so Fair Day became a thing of the past.

I don't know how many people remember it, but about twenty years ago (actually more than that), the Oklahoman floated the trial balloon of constructing a 60,000-seat domed stadium **at the fairgrounds** with at least some public money. Memory is fuzzy about details, but I believe it was at a time when the Oklahoman had some sort of financial interest in the Texas Rangers. The Rangers, at that time, were not a particularly healthy franchise, and there was some wild speculation that Gaylord was going to try to build the stadium and engineer a move of the Rangers up here (talk about some optimistic vision). Anyway, the stadium notion was widely ridiculed, and then-gov Henry Bellmon reduced the idea to some poorly conceived 20,000-seat "multipurpose" facility, which actually made it to a ballot only to be crushed (that inherently pegs the timeframe to be the late 80's, as he was elected in 1986). That was the last of any type of large public venue construction until the Bricktown Ballpark and the Ford Center were built under MAPS...

-SoonerDave

[davido]

I like the fair, but after that moron who took it over several years ago decided to jack up the admission,it kinda took the wanting to go to the fair away. you used to get all kinds of good free stuff, then you get that wierd smell as you cross between the midway and the food area, kinda smelled like sour milk and vomit with a hint of cinnamon roll corn dog vapor. but who can pass up the 8 dollar burgers or 6 dollar cokes. lol
I like to go into the buildings and look at stuff, the fair is best if there is a hint of cool weather and warming yourself by the smoker and fireplace demenstrations. remember when the international building was international? It is full of flea market junk now. where is the monkey man who's monkey took your quarter, if you had anything less than a quarter the monkey threw it down..lol

[okiemom]

I received this a few minutes ago.


Oklahoma State Fair offers
FREE educational tours to School Groups!

The Oklahoma State Fair offers an exciting field trip opportunity for your school group, and it’s FREE, compliments of the Oklahoma State Fair!

Experience an adventure in Oklahoma’s smallest, but most entertaining city…AGtropolis Adventure! This 26,000 square foot interactive, whimsical “city” offers an adventure in agricultural education. Watch chickens hatch; see sheep, goats, rabbits, mommy pigs with their babies, milking cows, beef cattle in their “secret hideaway,” butterflies, insects and much, much more!

The Oklahoma State Fair Educational Tour Program has been developed to help you achieve Oklahoma P.A.S.S. objectives for school age students.

No trip to the Fair is complete without a little entertainment. Take time after your tour to see great shows like the Great Cat Adventures, Great American Duck Races, Plains Indian Dancers, Welde’s Bear Show or Sinbad, In Search of the Golden Pineapple High Dive Show. These are just a few of the many, many FREE things there are to do at the Oklahoma State Fair!


But…..be sure to register now. Space is limited!

visit our website
www.oklahomastatefair.com
or call (405) 948-6700


JUST FOR SCHOOLS!

Oklahoma schools and home schools, Grades K-8, are invited to participate in the 2006 Oklahoma State Fair (OSF) Education Program. Informational tour stops and FREE gate admission are offered to pre-registered groups. Tours are available Tuesday, September 19 through Thursday, September 21, from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. (Check in will be ½ hour prior to the official tour time.)

Remember, if you cannot attend as a pre-scheduled group, Monday, September 18 is School Kids’ Day at the Fair and gate admission is free for children grades K-12.

How it works –

1. Registration: If you are interested in participating in the OSF Educational Tour Program, complete the enclosed registration form and mail or fax (948-6828) it to our office as soon as you have a field trip day approved. Space is limited and reservations will be filled on a first-come, first-served basis. However, reservation requests will not be accepted after August 31, 2006.

2. Confirmation: You will receive a confirmation letter, site map, and bus permit from the OSF. No tickets are necessary. Your confirmation letter will be your group’s gate admission into the State Fair Park. Bring your confirmation with you the day of your visit. Gate admission for pre-scheduled, participating schools is FREE!

3. Chaperones are required. One (1) adult for each five (5) students is required, and they will be admitted FREE. [Any other accompanying adults must purchase a gate admission ticket.] All coats, toys, radios and other personal belongings should be left on the bus.


JUST FOR TEACHERS!


A number of great teaching tools are available to help make your trip to the Oklahoma State Fair fun and rewarding for both you and your students.

Are you interested in a post-field trip activity for your classroom?

Each school that participates in the Oklahoma State Fair Education Program will receive a complimentary Oklahoma State Fair Discovery Box at the beginning of your tour.

Materials are provided by the Oklahoma Department of Education, Oklahoma Department of Agriculture, Ag in the Classroom and the Oklahoma State Fair. Curriculum is developed to help achieve Oklahoma P.A.S.S. objectives for elementary school students.

The Oklahoma State Fair Discovery Box will include:

An Oklahoma State Fair Coloring Book for all participating students.

Additional teaching materials to use in your classroom.

Bibliography of resources to help you expand classroom opportunities.


2006 OKLAHOMA STATE FAIR
SCHOOL FIELD TRIP REGISTRATION

Trip Date Requested:
 September 19, 2006  September 20, 2006  September 21, 2006

School name __________________________________________________ _________________

Address___________________________________________ ____________________________

City/State/Zip________________________________ School phone #_____________________
Contact name __________________________ Contact e-mail___________________________

Contact phone #___________________________ Alternate phone #_______________________

What is the earliest arrival time possible for your school? ________________________

What is the latest departure time for returning back to your school? ____________________

Estimated number of students attending:

#__________ students Grade level_______________________

#___________ students Grade level _______________________

#___________ students Grade level _______________________

# ___________Teachers and Chaperones (1 for each 5 students admitted FREE)

# ___________ Buses/Other vehicle (circle one) Vehicle size/capacity _____________________

Participants voluntarily assume all risks and danger of personal injury and all other hazards arising from or related in any way to participation in the Oklahoma State Fair Educational Program, whether occurring prior to, during or after such participation, and fully and finally release the City of Oklahoma City, Oklahoma City Fairgrounds Trust, Oklahoma City Public Property Authority, Oklahoma State Fair, Inc., its sponsors, their agents, volunteers and employees from any claims related thereto and notwithstanding its sole, joint, or concurrent negligence, liability or fault.

Trip to the Oklahoma State Fair is authorized by:

_________________________________________ ______________________________
Administrator Date

Deadline for registration is August 31, 2006. However, group tours are limited and will be accepted on a first-come, first-served basis. Please mail or fax (405-948-6828) registration to:

OKLAHOMA STATE FAIR
ATTN: COMMUNITY PROGRAMS
Post Office Box 74943
Oklahoma City, OK 73147

[SoonerDave]

I laud the outreach to the schools.

Sadly, however, this simply conveys that they are trying ANYTHING to conjure up interest in that abominable Agropolis nightmare. I wish they'd cut their losses, burn that exhibit, and get our regular Made in Oklahoma vendors back in there.

There were MYRIAD opportunities for "educational" themes when you had diverse vendors in there.

-SoonerDave

[davido]

I agree the Agropolis is bad.

1. Oklahoma RedHawks - News
www.oklahomaredhawks.com/news/?cat=1&id=392
Published on: 9/12/2005 Last Visited: 2/6/2006

Oklahoma RedHawks general manager Tim O'Toole has resigned his position, the Triple-A minor league baseball club announced Tuesday.

O'Toole, 56, is leaving the RedHawks and the SBC Bricktown Ballpark to take over as the new President and General Manager for the Oklahoma State Fair and State Fair Park.

O'Toole's resignation ends a six-year relationship with the club. He joined the RedHawks in 1998 during their inaugural year. He was one of the key leaders in working with city, county and state officials overseeing the construction and operation of the citizen-financed $33 million ballpark facility.