The clock is ticking to the start of the 80th Annual Chelsea Community Fair, which begins Aug. 22 and runs through Aug. 26.
Each time I drive by the fairgrounds I smile at the beautiful and colorful flowers around the Service Building and know how much work goes into their appearance year-round so visitors can experience them during fair week.
And, little by little, I see reminders that the fair is just around the corner. Gates on carts that will hold the farm animals, pickup trucks parked here and there as fair volunteers ready the barns and buildings for the biggest event in Chelsea each summer.
Soon the North American Midway Entertainment campers and rides will begin to arrive.
And it’s crunch time for the fair board, which is meeting weekly planning the final details for this family friendly and fun event.
The superintendents are finalizing their list of volunteers and judges while youth and adult exhibitors are hard at work on their entries; the vegetable and fruit and flower folks hoping for more rain and so that their entries will be at the peak of ripeness or in full bloom for entry day on Sunday, Aug. 20.
The Chelsea Athletic Boosters, who handle parking all the cars and sell admission are filling those volunteer slots to work the fair gates.
And the youth are working with their animals getting ready to show them for packed grandstands starting Tuesday, Aug. 22.
It’s the first week in August and all through the community, lots of people and creatures are getting ready for fair and hoping for great weather.
