Photo by Jim Muchlinski Deloris and Dick Richards are two of the longest serving members of the Lyon County Fair Board. The board plans each fair throughout the year and then works overtime during the fair to keep the event on track. The fair continues at the Lyon County Fairgrounds through Sunday.

MARSHALL — There’s never a dull moment for fair board members when the Lyon County Fair unfolds for five days at the fairgrounds.

Board members have their own sets of duties planned in advance, and also respond to a continuous amount of questions from exhibitors, vendors and visitors. The questions cover a wide range of details associated with the five days of events.

Deloris and Dick Richards of Marshall have served as fair board members and fair volunteers for about 50 years. In 2021, their main job was to staff the secretary’s office, which serves as a headquarters and an information center.

“We’re here for anyone who has questions,” Deloris said. “We get a lot of variety. People want to know where to go and how to find things. We also sell a lot of tickets.”

She said many of the questions in the early part of the fair involve the location of someone’s exhibit space, where it’s allowable to park cars, and last-minute needs for things like water or lighting.

She said the two most interesting frequent questions to come up this year pertain to the fairgrounds Round Barn building and to the ATM unit parked outside the secretary’s office.

A larger number of exhibits than usual are located in the Round Barn in 2021. Many people, even some who’ve been to past Lyon County fairs, have asked about where the Round Barn is located.

“It’s always been called the Round Barn, but it doesn’t look like what most people picture as a barn,” Richards said. “We’ve had to point it out to some of our newer vendors.”

With the ATM station, a sizable number of people walk past it, stop at the office, and ask about where to find an ATM.

“It’s surprising that many people walk right past it,” she said. “We tell them it’s outside the door and they wonder how they missed it. It seems like it should be harder to find.”

She said Wednesday night’s events drew substantial crowds. Ticket sales trends for both the Thursday and Friday night rodeo and the Saturday night demolition derby appear very favorable as of Thursday afternoon.

The level of questions from the general public tends to pick up later in the day as large crowds attend in advance of major grandstand attractions.

The lost and found at the secretary’s office also usually takes on more items. A driver’s license and a phone were already waiting to be claimed on Thursday.

“We keep busy throughout the fair,” Richards said. “There are always things for fair board members to do. It works well because the board members all have their own jobs and we help each other as needed.”

Tom Meulebroeck of Marshall, who also has many years of experience as a fair board member and volunteer, said he’s not surprised to see favorable crowds turning out in 2021.

“If what we’ve seen so far is any indication, it will be a very successful fair,” he said. “People haven’t had a chance to be here in two years. They’re glad to come back.”

He added that people who help to put on the Lyon County Fair are equally glad to be back in familiar roles as event coordinators.

He’s found that all of the preparations are worth the time when the fair opens for business. A reward throughout each fair is the chance to see members of the general public having fun.

“The biggest thing I like about helping out at the fair is being around people,” Meulebroeck said. “It takes people to have a fair. I always like it when there’s a good sized crowd.”