Putnam Fair Opens Fairest Of The Fair Competition To Jackson Residents

Jackson County residents will now have the opportunity to compete in the Putnam County Fairest of the Fair.

Chair Shannon Hayes said that before the fair board’s vote, only Putnam County residents and students were allowed to compete. She said that for several years now, the Fairest of the Fair Board has fielded questions from Jackson County ladies who haven’t had the opportunity.

“Most of the counties surrounding us have their own fair and we didn’t want to take anything away from those existing pageants which are all great” “Jackson County, in particular, has asked, saying ‘We don’t have a fair. You literally are our fair.'”

Hayes said the change received a majority vote from fair board members. She said that the change will go into effect by the next fair.

“Honestly it’s not anything that we’ve pushed for, it’s things that the community has pushed for,” Hayes said. “The community in surrounding counties. The girls who wanted to have a pageant they can compete in, but did not have that, especially Jackson County because they don’t even have a fair. So it really has stemmed from the Fair Board listening to the request from  the community and the folks that attend our fair and value our fair and want to participate.”

Hayes said that the pageants open many doors for participants, including scholarship opportunities. She said that sign up information can be found on the Putnam County Fair site.