The Warren County Fair has a unique way of advertising.
Judy Cerra said the hay bale contest she co-chairs helps to encourage attendance at the fair. Participants decorate hay bales which advertise the fair, she said, and stay up from July 16 until the fair's end.
Cerra said judging of the displays will be done Friday morning. Requirements include the entries have to be on private property, located 10 feet back from the road and facing the road to better advertise.
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Animals abound
A Chandlers Valley decoration helps promote the Warren County Fair.
Winners receive cash prizes, Cerra said, and there are usually three people who go out and judge the contest. Factors include originality and appropriateness to the fair.
The contest is now in its third year, Cerra said, and she and her husband got the idea after they learned a fair in Ontario does the same thing. There were seven participants the first year, she said, and she thought it was great because the Ontario fair had been doing it for years and that year it only had four entries.
"It was very effective," Cerra said. "They were all over the county with some in downtown Warren, on Cobham Park Road, Sugar Grove and down towards Pittsfield. They were pretty much scattered."
Last year, Cerra said there were several entries. When it came time for the judging, she said organizers discovered only one was actually a decorated hay bale.
According to Cerra, there are three entries this year. Just like the first time, she said, they are scattered around with one in Chandlers Valley, another in Torpedo and a third in Farmington Township.
Before the contest started, Cerra said the fair relied on billboards. However, she said, that was cost prohibitive.
During the fair, Cerra said digital pictures of the decorations will be on display.