NYSAAF

New York State Association

of Agricultural Fairs

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President

Steven G Berninger

Columbia County Fair

91 Knollwood Dr.

Valatie, NY 12184

(518) 784-4639

berninger349@Aol.com

 

PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE

I have just returned from the 125th Annual Convention in Rochester.  Based on comments I heard, the convention was a success thanks to the leadership of our outgoing president Bob Grems of

the Boonville Fair.  Thank you Bob, for your dedication and perseverance on agricultural topics

that are the forefront of the organization of today.

 

 The year goes by fast.  I now have the reins and it is my responsibility to continue the good

work of our previous presidents. That is, to keep this organization and the county fairs of

New York State viable and a showplace of agriculture both historical, present day  and futuristic.

 

 There are many who criticize our county fairs.  They say that the fairs’ create traffic problems,

noise pollution and zoning issues.  Those individuals would rather sit quietly at home on the weekends than go to the local county fair.  But from experience as a child, the local county fair

each year was my only chance to see what life was like in other places, to try different foods

and hear different languages.  Even though the world has gotten smaller, this is still true of

many of our county residents attending fairs today.

 

 My hometown is small and I have been reminded on several occasions that the local fair is the largest marketplace in the county.  As a vendor, where else in the county would you be able

to show 60,000 or 70,000 fair goers your products and services .  We heard at the convention

 that an economic impact study was completed at the request of the Association.  This study researched the attendance of four typical county fairs in New York;  The Jefferson County Fair,

the Washington County Fair, the Dutchess County Fair and the Erie County Fair, all different in

size and attendance.  As a result, the study put forth that the impact of our county fairs to the

local, regional and state economy was over $70 million and created some 1500 jobs.  This

money changes hands several times allowing regional businesses the chance to grow and local businesses, workers the chance to earn a decent living.  Taxes paid as a result of sales and

income in the state allows governments the opportunity to resurface our roads, provide police protection and protect our well being.  For more information on the impact study look for

the study results in this website and the April issue of the newsletter.

 

 Later this month your executive committee will be meeting with our legislative representatives

to review topics they will be working on for us in the coming year.  I am happy to report that

]through their efforts the NYS premium money has been allocated in next year’s Cuomo

budget as well as an extra $100,000 going to county fairs coming from the NYS Horse

Breeding & Development Fund. This is very good news for our organization and our

membership.

 

 As our past president mentioned last year, there is going to be some changes coming to our organization.  For too many months now we have been operating at a deficit and the bank

balances at the end of the year have been dwindling.  I will be proposing soon ways that I

hope will stop the trend of declining balances and put the organization back on track financially. 

 I hope you all had a good experience at the convention and I look forward to seeing some

of you and your fairs this coming summer.

 

 

 

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