WEYBURN – The year 2022 was comparable to pre-COVID operations and did well with revenues and attendance for the Weyburn Agricultural Society, members heard at their annual meeting on Wednesday evening.
President Kent Fisher ended his two-year term, and first vice-president Tyler Metheral will serve another term as president with Mike Bell as the new first vice-president. Fisher will be the second vice-president, and will continue to be involved on the rodeo committee.
Stacy Kosior was appointed to the Ag Ed committee, and Brandie Fisher is in charge of the social media and advertising. Vacancies which are still open include the third vice-president, historian, parking and policing, with a possible candidate for the latter position on the board.
The Fair dates for 2023 were tentatively set for the week of July 2-8, with the Light Horse Show to start, the 4-H Regional Show to go on July 3-5, and the Fair days from July 6-8. The dates may change if needed for the entertainment, but otherwise should be set.
A change to take effect as of Jan. 1, 2023, is the increase in membership fees for the Ag Society from $5 to $20.
Metheral said one of the reasons for the change is that no one seemed to take the $5 fee seriously. Also, the directors and volunteers will now not be charged to enter the grounds for events, where in the past they always had to pay.
Members felt some promotion of the membership should be done to let people know what is available for members. In addition, the directors approved a new youth membership fee of $5 to be introduced for those who are under 18 years of age, and they will have two junior directors on the executive.
Member Stacy Kosior suggested they could advertise for two youth to be junior directors, and if no response is received, they will approach staff at the Weyburn Comp School for possible candidates.
In the financial report, the Weyburn Fair, project operations (like Flavours of Fall) and general operations brought in a total revenue of $431,996, which was up about $25,000 overall from a year ago.
Expenses for these three areas totaled $331,906, and the total excess of revenues over expenses was $100,484.
The Fair saw total revenues of $180,558, compared to $144,972 for 2021, and expenses were $61,427, up from $37,055 in 2021, and the excess of revenue was $119,131.
Areas like gate receipts, the 4-H calf sale and sponsorships saw higher revenues, but on the expenses side, prize money and entertainment were both up. As the Fair in 2021 was an anomaly, as it was pulled together in a matter of days without the full slate of entertainment, it was not comparable to a normal year.
The list project operations particularly reflected this, as there was no rodeo, Ag Safety Day or Flavours of Fall in 2021. These events brought in a total of $52,518 of revenue after expenses.
In general operations, which includes revenues like building rent, grants and donations, and expenses such as wages and benefits, insurance, amortization, repairs and maintenance, utilities, professional fees, office supplies, bank charges and bursary award, there was a deficiency of revenue of $71,165, but this was offset by the excess revenues from the Fair and project events.
The Ag Society members heard the report on the gates, with two main events requiring gate volunteers this year, the Fair on July 7-10, and the Fall Demo Derby held on Sept. 24.
For the Fair, they had a total of 23 volunteers plus board members, and the Fair brought in over 6,500 visitors. Volunteers came from the community, the Sun Country Riding Club and staff from BMO.
The Fall Demo Derby saw 360 people go through the gate, with only two booths needed.
For the 4-H Regional Show just prior to the Fair, nine clubs from the southeast area took part, with 116 steers in the show and sale, along with 63 heifers, 10 two-year continuation projects and five three-year-old projects taking part.
The Flavours of Fall event was back this year, with over 700 tickets sold in advance at Pharmasave, and almost 600 came through the door in the first hour of opening.
