EASTERN ARKANSAS — The Three County Fair is taking a different approach this year by holding events in each of the three counties it serves.
The fair has traditionally been held at the Three County Fairgrounds in McCrory and serves Cross, Jackson and Woodruff counties.
This year, the Three County Fair Board decided to take the fair to the three counties instead of having participants travel to McCrory.
“We’ve kind of played with ideas to get more community involvement, to have more ownership of each county. The pageant people (Arkansas Stare Fair Pageant) approached us wanting us to send a girl from each county,” said Kathy Helton of Wynne, a member of the Three County Fair Board. “With that on our plate, this is kind of a perfect opportunity to say we’re going to do a pageant in each county. Why not do a livestock show in each county? Why not do an exhibit in each county? Why not do something in each county that each county will get behind and support? So that’s kind of how it worked.”
The goal is for increased participation in Jackson and Cross counties, and if last week’s events in Jackson County are any an indication, the new format is working.
“The Jackson County Pageant, I believe we had 15 girls in that. I don’t know numbers because I haven’t looked at what’s been entered in the past, but I don’t think we’ve ever 15 girls from Jackson County in our pageant,” Helton said. “We’ve already got 25 girls in the Cross County Pageant. I can tell you I don’t think we’ve ever had that many Cross County contestants in our pageant. We’re still having sign-ups for Woodruff County, so I’m hoping those girls come out and shine.
“The thing about our pageant or any of our events, you can enter if you live in Cross County, Woodruff County or Jackson County. You can enter all three except the Miss and the Junior Miss,” she added. “Everything else, if your kid wants to show livestock, they get three opportunities to get in front of a judge. If they want to be in pageants, but they’re not a Junior or a Miss, they get three opportunities to get in front of a judge. If you’re just a person who loves to grow things or take pictures, you get three opportunities to get in front of a judge. It’s just something to give the kids an opportunity to get that exposure and get ready to go to state.”
