Eight Days at the Races
Another proposal was to change the dates of the races from August to another month — that too was rejected. “More recently, last year, we were [asked] to reduce our fair and race meet to just six days, the caveat being we would not be running simultaneously with anybody else during those six days.
“As drastic as that sounds, being the exclusive racing signal in August, even for just six days, actually looked pretty good from an economic standpoint. You’d be able to offer bigger purses; you’d have bigger fields; the betting at least theoretically would be stronger.
“But it was just too drastic of a change. There was a lot of pushback from the community — the economic benefit from this two-week event is pretty substantial when you start talking about hotels, motels, restaurants and retail businesses — you can’t get a room in Ferndale for the two weeks of the fair — so we backed away from that.”
The Humboldt County Fair’s impact on Ferndale business is incalculable, says Curley Tait of Curley’s Grill in the Victorian Inn. “It’s incredible. The whole town is packed. We’re full from morning to night the whole time the fair is on — except on days when there are no races.”
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on the cover
Railroad!
Proposed lines ‘set rich blood a-tingling’ in early 1900s
Some Other Proposed North Coast Railroads
Choo-choo Fantasies
Exposing this east-west rail nonsense
seven-o-heaven
Undeterred Will
Will chides Andrew for lack of attention to detail and makes plans for his inevitable victory.
Recent on the cover
May 17
Ring of Fire
Sun and moon will perform a rare pas de deux in Humboldt skies on Sunday
May 10
District Soup
Racing for the top county seat in the 1st, 2nd and 3rd districts
May 3
A Place in the Woods
As park closure deadline nears, a scramble to save what we can
Today
44th Annual Kinetic Grand Championship Race
STAFF PICK / events, art, outdoors, sports, for kids, free / 9 a.m.-6 p.m. A 3-day, 42-mile kinetic sculpture race over land, sand, mud and water! LeMans start at the Noon Whistle on the Arcata Plaza. Follow the race through Manila, Eureka and into Ferndale on Memorial Day for the Glorious Finish. kineticgrandchampionship.com. 889-3024.
Flow 2012 Fashion Show
STAFF PICK / events / 8 p.m. Arcata Theatre Lounge, 1036 G St. Student designed and produced clothing. Fundraiser for Arcata Arts Institute. $35/$25 students. artsinstitute.net. 822-1220.
Woodside Preschool's Rummage/Bake Sale
events / 8 a.m.-noon. Woodside Preschool, 900 Hodgson St, Eureka. www.woodsidepreschool.com. 445-9132.
Lanphere Dunes Restoration
STAFF PICK / outdoors / 9:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m. Meet at Pacific Union School. Help remove non-native invasives at the Lanphere Dunes Unit of the Humboldt Bay National Wildlife Refuge. Tools and gloves provided, wear work clothes and bring water. Carpool to the protected site. 444-1397.
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