By Jessie Burchette

jburchette@salisburypost.com

Fair season officially got under way Wednesday night with the kickoff dinner for more than 100 volunteers.

The 57th edition of the Rowan County Agricultural and Industrial Fair runs Sept. 15-20 at the fairgrounds on Julian Road.

New attractions will include the Wild West Follies and demolition derbies on Friday and Saturday nights. The Saturday events include a power puff derby for women and a derby for 105-inch wheelbase vehicles.

The Tiger Encounter and Elephant Adventure will also return this year.

Fair Manager Johnny Love promised a bigger and better fair and thanked the volunteers.

Hundreds of exhibitors are expected to fill the halls with vegetables, flowers and crafts.

Livestock and pets will compete for prizes nightly.

"They say it takes a village to raise a child. Well, it takes a community to put on a fair," Love said.

He cited the dedication of the fair catalog in memory of firefighters Victor Isler and Justin Monroe, who died in the Salisbury Millwork fire March 7.

Don Kiker, exhibit manager, cited changes this year and more to come.

Among the changes, the Fair Association has opted to print a catalog instead of publishing it in the Salisbury Post as in past years.

The theme for this edition of the fair is "A Harvest of a Discovery."

Copies of the catalog are available at the Agricultural Extension Office on Old Concord Road and at farm stores throughout the county.

Entry forms must be mailed in or turned in by Sept. 5. No forms will be accepted after that date.

Kiker also announced plans to have a Web site up and running before next year's fair where entry forms can be filled out online.

"We're getting into the computer age," Kiker said.

He also cited changes in the main exhibit building, saying it will have a totally different look.

Love and Kiker introduced dozens of exhibit managers and the new officers of the Fair Association. The officers are President Brian Carpenter of the Spencer Jaycees and Vice President Chuck Yost of the Faith Jaycees.

The Fair Association board of directors includes Dennis Barrier, Chris Brown, Blair Smith-Kimmer, Yost, Kiker and Love from the Faith Jaycees. Members from the Spencer Jaycees include Carpenter, Kevin Hall, Kevin Hurley, Melissa Johnston, Tommy Motley and Linda Spillman.

Love introduced guests including Raymond Coltrain, a candidate for the Rowan County Board of County Commissioners, and Capt. Kevin Auten of the Rowan Sheriff's Office, who will be in charge of security at the fair.

For more information on where catalogs and entry forms are available, contact the Rowan Cooperative Extension Service at 704-216-8970.

For more information on the demolition derbies, contact Kevin Hall at 704-202-6072 or Linda Spillman at 336-909-3519. Deadline for entry is Sept. 15.

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