No state fair exhibit for Merced

Over the last week, I’ve learned that the Merced County Chamber of Commerce was involved in many things, and the former board members are quite difficult to track down.

That group erected the few welcome signs that existed and constructed elaborate state fair exhibits, I’m told. I spent a lot of time this week trying to track down the former board members and wasn’t very successful.

Speaking of the exhibits, let’s jump right into this week’s question:

Which organization in Merced County handles the California State Fair exhibit to promote tourism, ag and economic development for Merced County now?

The answer to this question is simple: no one.

The background is a bit more complex.

The last time Merced County had an exhibit at the state fair was 2008, according to Mike North, a county spokesman. At that time, the county contributed $11,205 for the exhibit. It’s not clear how much or whether the chamber also contributed funding to the project.

Each year at the California State Fair in Sacramento, all 58 counties are welcome to construct an exhibit to represent and market their county’s recreational facilities, attractions, festivals, agritourism and more, the website says. The exhibits are 3-D, interactive and often have animation. Each year there is a theme and competition. For 2015, the theme was “Feasts and Festivals,” the website said. The state fair typically is in mid-July.

The defunct Merced County Chamber of Commerce was the group that usually headed the project.

After the 2008 exhibit, the county issued a request for proposal in 2009 for a 2010 exhibit, North said. The county received no responses.

Then the recession hit, and the county and community organizations could not fund an exhibit.

In 2011, the county again issued a request for proposal for a 2012 exhibit.

This time, Alan Schoff responded, and his proposal was approved by the board of supervisors, said Mark Cowart, the county’s director of administrative services. Schoff was the president for the Kiwanis Club and on the board of the Friends of the Merced County Fair.

Schoff, who has since moved out of state, said his proposal was for an exhibit that highlighted agriculture and UC Merced. The central image of the exhibit was planned to be the iconic Merced Theatre tower.

In the end, Schoff said he could not raise enough money to build the exhibit, which he estimated would cost about $5,000. Cowart said to his knowledge, the county never committed money to fund the exhibit.

Both North and Cowart said the county would be interested in having a state fair exhibit if there was a group willing to take on the project. Currently, the county budget does not include funding for an exhibit, but that could change if direction is given to fund the project, North said.

Merced County is among the majority of counties in the state that don’t have an exhibit at the state fair. In 2014, only 27 counties participated, and 31 did not. Stanislaus and Tuolumne counties did participate in that year, for which the most recent information was available, but both Fresno and Madera counties did not.

I’ve really enjoyed communicating with the people in this county and getting to know their curiosities and concerns. Please continue to email and call me with your questions. I look forward to hearing from you!

This story was originally published October 18, 2015 at 11:40 AM with the headline "No state fair exhibit for Merced."