530-993-4379
Sierra Booster
  • Home
  • Newspaper
    • Latest News
    • Letters to the Editor >
      • Submit Letter to the Editor
    • Old News Archive
    • Photo Tour
    • Events
    • About Us
    • SUBSCRIBE
  • Advertiser Directory
    • Advertiser Press Releases
    • Website Sponsors
    • Advertiser Area
  • Buy Ads - Services
  • Fishing Report
  • Contact Us
  • Admin Log In

Annual county fair is, of course, the “Super Bowl”

4/7/2022

0 Comments

 
  
Throughout the Western United States, it is very common to find the center of any emergency or crisis to be the local fairgrounds. They serve as evacuation centers for people and animals, fire camps, COVID testing and vaccination centers, cooling and heating centers, and even homeless shelters. The annual county fair is, of course, the “Super Bowl” event of these facilities, but the bulk of the use at a fairgrounds is serving the community with whatever it may need. In Plumas County, we are all too aware of how the needs of our community in crisis put aside the joy of many events, including our Fair. Two years in a row.
2022 looks like we will see our Fair return, along with many other events we all look forward to. As we shift back into what has always been “normal”, the Plumas Sierra County Fairgrounds has taken a deep look into what it does, and what it should do. Make no mistake, the core purpose of a county fair is to share what a community makes, grows and raises. The fair judges and recognizes these products, as fairs have done for centuries. The goal of every message leading up to the fair is to encourage people to enter their flowers, vegetables, quilts and photographs. Perhaps we have become too complacent. Maybe we should be asking where the innovation is. Everyday items were once the most amazing innovations on earth; Cracker Jacks, the Ferris Wheel, Pabst Blue Ribbon beer, electricity for goodness sake! All introduced at a fair. Why not us?
And why not now? A series of circumstances might just point to now being the perfect time to innovate. The presence of the Dixie Fire Camp was certainly an economic help to the Plumas Sierra County Fairgrounds. The devastation of Indian Valley has created a no-less than “start from scratch” situation in that beautiful area. Since the ultimate goal of the fairgrounds is to show the world what its community makes, grows and raises, it only makes sense that the Plumas Sierra County Fairgrounds invests some of the funds it earned from the Dixie Fire Camp to do that. It also makes sense that since many people have lost their ability to can, sew, or grow, we have to start working together to innovate. And finally, if we put together the resources available at this moment in time, there is no reason we cannot create products that the world would want to know about. If we can do that, then the world will want to buy those things, and THAT’S how we start to rebuild economically.
Where do we start? The Plumas Sierra County Fairgrounds is proposing the creation of the Indian Valley Innovation Hub. In a nutshell, the goal is to organize a group of people to gather resources in the form of mentors, experts, tools, equipment, marketing, distribution, financing and branding to encourage the people in Indian Valley to innovate. What kind of products, or services can be developed with the knowledge and raw materials available right now in that community? Does the presence of burnt timber or small diameter trees present an opportunity for home accents, furniture or frames? Are there crops that grow especially well in Indian Valley that can be packaged, branded and sold to restaurants in North Tahoe? Those might be the stupid ideas! But every idea is worth looking at.
There are two meetings scheduled to explore this concept; Wednesday, April 13 from 6 to 8pm and Saturday, April 30 from 11am to 1pm. Both will be held in the Greenville Elementary School Cafeteria. A presentation will be given on how an idea like this would be organized, and then the floor will be opened up to product ideas. This will be the chance to see if there are, in fact, innovative ideas worth pursuing.
Attendees will be asked if they know of anyone who has expertise in certain areas; machine working, wood working, marketing, packaging, logistics or industrial design. They will be asked if they have or know where we can acquire tools and equipment for use in developing these projects. Most importantly, they will be asked to share ideas. There will be no need for a presentation, or explanation, just an idea. We will write it on some paper, and when we are all done, we will look at it and say, “Yeah, this is a good idea.” or “We got nothing, let’s look at something else.” Either way is progress.
0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    Archives

    January 2023
    December 2022
    November 2022
    October 2022
    September 2022
    August 2022
    July 2022
    June 2022
    May 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    April 2014
    September 2009

    Categories

    All
    2015
    Sierra County News

    RSS Feed

    Vie
    ​w Old News

CONTACT US:

Sierra Booster Newspaper
PO Box 8
Loyalton, CA 96118
Phone: 530-993-4379
Fax: 844-272-8583
Email: jbuck@psln.com

Website Privacy Policy​
Picture
Local Weather
©Copyright Sierra Booster - Sierra County News - Editorial
Website by Chamber Nation