The future of the Washington County Fair is up in the air after a county commissioner fired its longtime director and proposed changes to the event and some of its long-standing traditions.
County Commissioner Victor Iverson approached the Washington County Fair Board director in September to list several proposed changes the commission would like to see made. Iverson said the items for discussion were based on input from community members.
Wendy Sandberg, who has served as director for 21 years, said she was shocked when Iverson presented the nine changes for her to make.
The proposed changes were:
- Moving the fair from August to the second weekend in May.
- Eliminating any yearly theme other than “celebrating Washington County.”
- Requiring the carnival contract to go out to bid.
- Expanding the food court and moving it outdoors.
- Requiring landscaping to be finished and the fair office trailer to be removed.
- Requiring the fair to have a rodeo.
- Prohibiting booths in the Hebron Building Stall Barn.
- Requiring marketing and branding to be coordinated with the county.
- Requiring participation from more schools and competition in arts, bands and music.
“I had no idea this was going to happen,” Sandberg said. “No explanation has been made.”
Wendy Sandberg, seen in 2014, has been the director of the Washington County Fair for 21 years. She was fired earlier this month. (Photo: Chris Caldwell / The Spectrum & Daily News)
Iverson said the conversation was meant to be “open,” and nothing was set in stone.
“They were items that we would like her to consider as the fair director, to have a dialogue with us and with the community to explore the pros and cons,” Iverson said.
According to Iverson, several emails were circulated among members of the fair board that he was not included in. He described the incident as a “complete breakdown of communication.”
“They went to other county employees on the fair board, and that let the commission to recognize that we had some difficulty in communication,” Iverson said.
Fair board director terminated
Sandberg said Iverson planned to allow her to remain the fair board director for one last year, since planning had already started. However, she received notification Dec. 10 her contract would not be renewed.
“All of the sudden, I got a letter in the mail terminating my contract, so I didn’t get my last year,” Sandberg said. “It wasn’t clear at all.”
Grounds were dismissal were not listed in the letter, Sandberg said, only that the fair was “going in another direction.”
