After successful fair, board meeting turns chaotic

In the wake of a successful Great Northern Fair, a meeting of the Hill County Fair Board Thursday served as a listening session for members of the public, mainly people who worked at the fair, to voice their concerns, criticism and praise, but devolved into a heated argument about the competence and merit of Frank English as the fairgrounds manager.

Community member Ursula Brese had a number of complaints, including one against a fair board member, though she did not specify which one.

“Things happened while I was working that I don’t think are right,” Brese said.

She said the board member deliberately cut off air conditioning to a building workers were in, and later closed a pair of workers in the calf barn and didn’t allow them to leave.

She also said the condition of the toilets at the fair was unacceptable, with workers needing to put on elbow-length gloves to pull human waste out of them because they wouldn’t flush anything but water.

“That was a disgrace,” she said.

Brese also said there was a general problem of extreme micromanagement, and a lack of signage for handicap parking, a source of quite a few complaints at the fair.

Another issue she talked about regarded the trash bags, many of which were thin and broke while workers attempted to dispose of them.

Board Chair Josh Heitzenroder said, hopefully, next year, the toilets will be fixed and more heavy-duty trash bags can be purchased for the next fair, but did not address the issue regarding the alleged behavior of the unspecified board member.

Brese was not without praise however. She said the powwow put on by Northern Winz Hotel & Casino was amazing and the clean-up was fast and spotless.

Bill Lanier of the local Scouts also praised the powwow, but did raise some concerns about the placement of the live music.

Lanier said Sunday was perfect, but, before that, the music was so loud that workers at his booth left because they couldn’t even hear each other.

He said a similar situation happened with the Beaver Creek Jam, and while he absolutely wants live music to be part of these events, this is an issue that should be thought about in preparation for the next fair.

He said he appreciates the board and English for all of their hard work, especially the latter for helping solve some water-related issues his booth was having during the fair, something else he asked the board to address for next year.

Board Secretary Anita Stevenson also brought up her own concerns regarding 4-H contracts, which she thinks should be updated.

Stevenson said there were a lot of misconceptions for 4-H’ers about what they’re allowed to do, and when and where they were allowed to do it, pointing to an incident where horses were being groomed to close to an area where steers were being brought in, animals which got spooked and caused issues for their handlers.

She said she’s not blaming anyone for the incident but does think things like that need to be in writing to prevent incidents like that.

“I’m not having a go at them,” she said.

Board Member Bob Kaul said Hill County Search and Rescue also had some complaints, mainly that the bleachers should have had a snow fence put on it so children, one of whom had to the taken to the hospital, couldn’t climb around under it and fall.

Kaul said he was also told that they need to do a better job of keeping the fire lane clear.

Despite these issues English said nearly every aspect of the fair was more successful than in 2019, with the carnival drawing in twice as much money, and every regular vendor surpassing their 2019 sales.

“Everything was up this year,” he said.

He also said the Fourth of July fireworks display set off at the fairgrounds went exceedingly well, the Havre Jaycees having saved around $500 extra because English had a team to watch for and put out fires, something the Jaycees would normally need to pay the fire department for.

Montana State University Hill County Extension Foundation Consumer Science Agent Kati Purkett said 4-H’s activities also went exceedingly well with the livestock sale brining in $214,000 and nearly everything else being more profitable and well attended including the 4-H Chuckwagon.

Hill County Commissioner Diane McLean also took some time to praise Doug Kallenberger and everyone who contributed to making the Northern Rodeo Association rodeo so good this year.

However, after the board voted to approve the purchase of a 5 ft. by 8 ft. trailer for the park, and discussed possible projects to be completed before next year’s fair, an issue regarding a missed or misinterpreted email from 4-H to English caused the meeting to spiral somewhat out of control.

English, incensed by a comment made by Heitzenroder regarding the missed email, which apparently resulted in logistical issues during the fair, left the meeting.

After asking if this was how they intended to thank him for a good fair, but before he was able to leave, multiple board members initiated a brief but heated argument with him that was difficult to follow.

After English’s departure the meeting devolved into a heated debate about his competence as a fairgrounds manager.

Stevenson defended English, saying in the time leading up to the fair his inbox became a deluge, and while missing the email was a mistake on his part it was human error in a stressful time.

Former board member, Chelby Gooch who attended as a member of the fair’s foundation disagreed and pointed to this incident as evidence of incompetence.

She said she spent six years on the board and was never once thanked for her hard work and accused English of being unwilling to improve or do his job.

“I don’t feel sorry for him because he chooses not to learn his job,” she said.

Stevenson said this was the first fair English had to organize from the beginning and on his own and, all things considered, it went very well.

Admittedly, she said, her perspective is limited to the month she’s been working with English, but in that time he worked extremely hard practically non-stop to make the fair as good as it was and that he wasn’t being treated fairly.

She also said she doesn’t see the fair being successful if the board keeps changing managers.

The argument continued until Heitzenroder said the argument was becomeing too emotional and was unproductive.

Board Vice-Chair Michelle Burchard then defended English’s performance, and said, regardless of what mistakes were made, the fact is it was a great fair and English was really on his own for the first time, but agreed that the conversation was not productive and and they need to look to the future.

“The past is the past and we need to move forward,” she said.

Heitzenroder agreed that it was a good fair and that he gives English credit for the carnival and filling up the commercial building.

Burchard agreed and said it was time for the board to step back a bit and let English do his job.

“He’s the manager and we need to let him be the manager,” she said.