Organizers of the annual Calhan summer fair were honored with three prestigious first-place awards during the 114th Annual International Association of Fairs and Expositions Convention in Las Vegas, Nev. More than 5,000 delegates attended the conference.The El Paso County Fair won the most coveted award in advertising for county fairs: the “Best Advertising Campaign.” The fair also received the “Best ColorAdvertisement” and “Best Poster” awards.”This year’s award showing at the IAFE, an industry-leading conference, is truly significant,” said EPCF Assistant Manager Deb Galle. “I feel this validates that we are dynamic in the fair industry and doing our very best for the people of the county. Mike Estlick and the El Paso County Information Technologies Department helped develop the art and are responsible for making this possible with such a small ad budget. The art department at The Gazette and the ad department at KOAA and many other community media also contributed to the success of this campaign.”The El Paso County Fair campaign, a pig with big eyes and a great big grin, was intended to invite fairgoers to the family-fun, eight-day event and symbolize our commitment and dedication to promote the county fair with creativity, professionalism and humor.”The El Paso County Fair entries competed against items submitted by member fairs and expositions from around the world, such as the Wyoming State Fair, the Canadian Finals Rodeo, Alberta, Canada, Carver County Fair, Minnesota, Monterey County Fair, California and the North Idaho Fair and Rodeo. Entries are categorized by organizations with similar-sized attendance. The El Paso County Fair competed in the category with an attendance of 100,000 people or less. It was the only fair in Colorado to win an award. The fair has an annual average attendance of about 35,000.rides and interactive, educational activities, lots of animals to see and touch, live music, great food, and most importantly, gives people the chance to get together and celebrate and event that really belongs to them as people of the land.Fair Manager Jim Abendschan was recently named Rocky Mountain Region Fair Manager of the Year, and was the 1999 Colorado Fair Manager of the Year. Since 1999, the El Paso County Fair has won 11 international advertising awards, two international agricultural awards including best “Overall Agricultural Program for the Fairgoing Public,” and the 2000 CPRA best “New Rodeo of the Year.””We have some of the best, most dedicated volunteers I’ve seen anywhere,” said Abendschan. “And they are also deeply responsible for the success of this event.”The 2005 El Paso County Fair is set for July 23-30 in Calhan near Colorado Springs. For more information please contact the El Paso County Fair Office at (719) 520 7880 or visit www.elpasocountyfair.com.
