Wednesday's Internet Edition, August 27, 2008.
for proposed livestock barn
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| BARN IS GOING UP- People from throughout the county showed up Saturday night to support the building of a new livestock barn at Fair Park. More than 400 plates of fish were sold. The combined Saturday fundraising events grossed over $27,000 and it appears that construction of the new barn is now a certainty. Staff Photo |
Members of the Hamilton County Livestock Association were ecstatic with the turnout Saturday for the benefit fish fry and silent auction held at the Jayson Harris Pavilion. Pre-liminary figures Monday morning showed that the fundraiser and associated events grossed $27,678.
The fundraising effort got off to an outstanding start earlier in the day, when a cow/calf Brangus pair donated by Dr. Bill and Karen Craig raised $8,800 at a special sale at the Hamilton Commission Company.
A group of more than 20 families, individuals and businesses, pooled their donations together to purchase the pair for $7,200. They then donated the pair back to the Livestock As-sociation to be auctioned again. This time Dylan and Brad Whitehead bought the pair for $1,600.
A list of donors to the buy-ers’ pool is included with a picture of the pair in this week’s newspaper.
After the great start, things continued to go well for the remainder of the day. Over 400 plates of fish were served, including those eating at the pavilion and takeout meals. The meal grossed $6,954.
The silent auction brought in $5,707 and an additional $616 was raised through donations for a raffle. Horseshoe and washer pitching tournaments raised $212 during the after-noon. Donations placed in a jar at the door of the pavilion to-taled $91.
Donors giving $100 or more for sheets of metal for the barn will have their name displayed at the new barn. This fundrais-ing effort brought in another $5,300.
Although exact totals were unavailable Monday, organiz-ers said that expenses for the fundraiser will be under $2,000.
Organizers have stated that any money raised beyond what is needed to build the new barn will be used to improve the Jayson Harris Pavilion.
Cost of the new barn has been projected at $100,000.
Previous commitments by the City of Hico for $25,000 and from the Hamilton Eco-nomic Development Corpora-tion of $50,000 should push the total near the needed amount.
The Livestock Association hopes to start demolishing the old barn and building the new one soon. The new structure is needed for the 2008 Hamilton County Youth Fair, which is held during the first part of January.
The new barn will be at-tached to the west end of the Jayson Harris Pavilion to allow exhibitors to bring their animals directly into the show ring from the new barn. The new barn will be 175 long and 100 feet wide. The old barn is 175x50.
There have been concerns for several years that the old barn has deteriorated to the point of being a safety hazard. These growing concerns brought the association to the decision that the barn could not be used another year.