First Grant County FUN fest, expo deemed a success

By Tom Hintgen (Contact) | The Daily Journal

Published Tuesday, April 22, 2008

The first Grant County Traveling F.U.N. Festival and Expo, held Saturday morning in Ashby, attracted 450 residents who spent their morning learning about what Grant County has to offer.

“What a day, with great weather, a great turnout, valuable information and lots learned,” said Tina Lindquist, one of the event planners who works at the Grant County Office of Land Management/Emergency Management. “We had 292 adults and 158 children.”

Planners hope to see even bigger numbers next year, the second year, when the 2009 event will be held in Barrett. After that the festival and expo will be held at Elbow Lake, Herman, Hoffman, Norcross and Wendell.

“We selected Ashby, this first year, simply because it starts with A and has a great facility — the Ashby school,” Lindquist said.

There were 58 booths displayed Saturday, representing various areas of Grant County. They included the Red Cross, Grant County Humane Society, ELEAH Medical Center, Amundson Equipment, churches, county departments, Thorson Memorial Library, local businesses from various communities, civic organizations such as American Legions, insurance companies, banks, grocery stores and service stations, to name a few.

“We also took the opportunity to promote recreational areas such as Elk Lake Heritage Preserve near Hoffman,” Lindquist said, “and we had something for people of all ages.”

There were free refreshments, a parking lot full of big rigs, a kids Fun House, Smoke House, Magic Kids Mania Show, baby chicks, kittens, live music, door prizes and, what Lindquist calls, “a huge amount of valuable information for county residents.”

Lindquist and the other planners learned a lot on how to improve the F.U.N. Festival and Expo for future years.

“Every time you do an event for the first time, you learn many things on how you can do it better,” she said. “We asked everyone who registered to fill out a survey before they left.”

From the children’s survey, it was recommended that the event should be longer than just Saturday morning.

From the adult’s survey, it was suggested that there be even more booths and maybe booths to purchase hot food in future years.

The event on Saturday was self-supporting, with no direct county money used. The Expo was made possible by people from Grant County who donated money, prizes and their time.

Among them were Palmer Bus Service that donated buses, gas and time to provide free transportation. Fire departments of Grant County set up and took down the Fun House and Smoke House. The Grant County Salvation Army served refreshments.

“Businesses, civic organizations and clubs that had booths did a wonderful job, Lindquist said, “and we look forward to seeing them again next year in Barrett.”

Lindquist and the other planners said the overall feeling at the first event was one of success.

“We heard numerous times how nice it was to have all the communities of Grant County come together and take part in this event,” she said. “Grant County is a great place to live — with a lot to offer.”

The theme this first year was Creating a Culture of Preparedness and C.A.R.I.N.G. for Families.