WELLINGTON — This year there will be a new way to keep abreast of changes at the 167th Lorain County Fair from Monday to Aug. 26.
A system to send out text alerts to those who text LCFAIR to the number 36000 was activated Wednesday by the fair’s secretary, Charisse Nikel.
Within a few hours, more than 100 people signed up, she said.
The text alert system will be used to alert people to things such as weather delays, Nikel said.
For example, the phones were jammed three years ago when adverse weather conditions rolled into Lorain County during the fair, she said.
“There were tornado warnings in Elyria, and it was sunny in Wellington,” Nikel said.
If the same thing happened again, fair staff could send a text alert on what to expect, she said.
Texts regarding promotions or ticket availability also will be sent out to those who want the alerts, she said.
However, people don’t have to worry about a barrage of texts that they don’t have time to read, Nikel said.
The fair board approved the plan at its meeting Tuesday with the goal of limiting texts to one a day during the fair and one a week during the rest of the year, she said.
The fair will be able to advertise its storage facilities, when season and membership tickets go on sale, grandstand events ticket kickoff, announce the entertainment and send out information on reserved parking and camping applications, she said.
She said the fair board also is considering offering the service to organizers of events such as the LaGrange Engine Club show and Scottish Games held on the fairgrounds.
The fair board already uses Facebook to reach 13,300 fans, Nikel said.
Don Crawford, a fair board member, credited Nikel with bringing the fair into the 21st century.
“Charisse is big on that — she loves technology,” Crawford said.
Meanwhile, the deadline for fair entries was last Friday and the office was swamped, according to Nikel.
There were 12,994 fair entries this year, compared with 11,990 entries last year, she said.
Exhibitors are up from 898 last year to 1,030 this year, and fair staff is busy getting ready for the additional people wanting to win a blue ribbon.
Fair texts
- What: New text messaging system for the Lorain County Fair.
- Why: To alert people of any special situations (traffic, statuses of shows if it rains), promotions and other things during fair week.
- How: Text LCFAIR (it is not case sensitive) to the number 36000.
- Cost: Free to users, and the fair board is paying $995 yearly.
Contact Cindy Leise at 329-7245 or cleise@chroniclet.com.
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