When Tanner Zimmerman learned the inaugural Junior Lebanon Area Fair Board was being created, he jumped at the chance to serve on it.
“I honestly think this is a priceless opportunity,” said the 16-year-old Zimmerman of South Lebanon Township. “When I first heard about this, I was all for it. I want to get involved in my community as much as I can and I want to be involved with the fair.”
The first-ever Junior Fair Board was created with 13 initial members before number 14 was added at a later date. The group serves as a subcommittee to the fair board, which has empowered the youths to suggest new fair events, be a sounding board and develop the kind of skills needed to be the leaders of tomorrow.
Since April, the board has conducted numerous meetings and has several more planned before the launch of the 2024 edition of the Lebanon Area Fair, which runs July 20 through July 27 at the Lebanon Valley Exposition Center and Fairgrounds in North Cornwall Township.
“For some of the kids, it is really their first opportunity to be in a leadership role,” said Sue Werner, assistant chairperson for the Lebanon Area Fair. “It is a really good opportunity for them to learn and put stuff together.”
There was another clear goal in the mind of the fair board in deciding to create a junior version.
“The adult fair board is not getting any younger, so we wanted to get some interest started up in some of the younger set, the ones who will stick around and come back and keep volunteering year after year, maybe after they’ve gone to college and come back and they still have that volunteer spirit in them,” said Werner.
Werner said the first addition of the junior fair board was gleaned from youth ages 14 to 20 who were already active with the fair and who submitted their interest via a social media post announcing its creation.
“The ones who came back are already really involved, either in the livestock end or the indoor exhibits, so we have a good mix,” she added. “We then started to ask them, ‘What have you done at the fair already?’ ‘What would you like to do?’ It was like a SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats) analysis.”
The four adult advisers posed other questions to those board members, added Werner.
“‘What can we do to improve? What would you like to do if you were given a choice?’” she said. “That’s when they started throwing out ideas. We told them that you can start something brand new, which is what Tanner did. ‘Can we do a mullet contest?’ and we were like, ‘Sure, if that is youth-driven and it is what you want to do, then that’s fine with us.’”
Fashioned after the highly popular version at the Pennsylvania Farm Show, the Lebanon Area Fair will host its first-ever mullet contest at this year’s fair on Thursday, July 25, at 5 p.m. at the Dairy Beef Barn. Pre-registration is not required for this event.
Zimmerman, who is the chairman of the Mullet Committee, said he got his inspiration after watching that competition be a success at the state Farm Show. He also has been sporting his own mullet after deciding to get one himself.
“My mom cuts my hair and she cut it one night that way and it kind of stuck and was really popular with the other kids at school,” said Zimmerman. “I saw it at the farm show and saw how successful it was, so I thought it would be interesting to bring it to the Lebanon Area Fair and make it an enticing event.”
That committee worked out the age groups, monetary prizes and an overall Best in Show, which will be selected from the various age category winners. Zimmerman added that while some details wait to be finalized, there was talk about possibly allowing the fair queen to pick her overall favorite for the Best in Show prize.
Not only will that individual have bragging rights as the inaugural fair mullet queen or king, but the committee has discussed the possibility of giving that individual a trophy that’s bigger than the one the other winners receive and with the inscription, “Best Mullet in Lebanon County.” They’ve also discussed potentially awarding a gift card to a local beauty shop or a basket of hair care products instead of the best mullet trophy.
Although the mullet prize details still have to make the final “cut” as of presstime, interested individuals will have to attend to learn about what prizes are awarded – or better yet – enter the mullet contest and compete for top honors.
These suggested prize ideas demonstrate several things. They show the creativity and the thoughtfulness exhibited in crafting an event that is as fun for the participants as it is for those audience members who prefer to keep their current hairstyle or those who can’t enter because they are follicly challenged.
It also demonstrates the exuberance and creativity that Werner praises while speaking with LebTown.
“I wish I could bottle their enthusiasm and sell it,” said Werner. “They get along very well, they’re enthusiastic, they’re not afraid to ask questions or say, ‘Hey, have you thought of this?’ They also brought us some new ideas on how we can reach the younger people through social (media).”
Werner noted the adult advisers also challenged the junior board to suggest new ideas to existing fair programs like Community Night and Kids Day, among others.
“If you want to, you can do something specific that’s youth-driven for those (existing events) besides coming up with something new,” she said. “They’re going to be our eyes and ears and look around to see how we can improve. As I said before, the adult fair board is aging and it’s time to look at things through younger eyes.”
Crystal Bomgardner, 20, Jonestown, is one of the older junior board members and is its first-ever chairman and spokesman. Like Zimmerman, she’s appreciative of the opportunity to serve others in this capacity.
“I think it means a lot because it is another opportunity for students to gain access to creating things that benefit our community as a whole, and to get firsthand experience is a really cool opportunity,” said Bomgardner.
During her recently concluded tenure as the Pennsylvania State FFA president in 2023-24, Bomgardner said she had the chance to witness other junior fair and farm show boards in action. Werner believes that about half of Pennsylvania-based county fairs have their own junior board.
“The passion that we have to just bring it to our fair and then finally see the fruit of that passion and some of the accomplishments of the young people is really a cool thing,” said Bomgardner “I can’t wait to see where it goes since it is just the first year. I think it will continue to grow and there will be more and more opportunities the further we get down the road.”
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Bomgardner said the junior board meets for two hours at every meeting and discusses as a group what the committees have worked on and then divides into individual committees. From there, they spend between 30 to 45 minutes working out the details of their specific projects.
Bomgardner noted the youth have been given the freedom to implement their projects that are approved by the main board.
“Their support is awesome and they are eager to let us create opportunities and be leaders in our own way while also providing leadership and mentorship. It means a lot to have their input and support on this too,” she said “It’s important because those are shoes that we will have to fill when we get older. They do realize that they are getting older and they are giving us a taste of what their responsibilities are so we can step into their shoes one day with confidence.”
Zimmerman shared a similar sentiment.
“I think it is very empowering to know that they trust us to bring us in and trust the process,” said Zimmerman. “I think that it is great that they were willing to bring us in and trust us to help them. The ball is rolling for the next generation of fairgoers and those who will be the fair board members.”
Bomgardner noted that the junior board has been “working very, very hard and we’re ready to see the many fruits of our labors come to pass.”
Werner said that this junior board is all-in and so enthusiastic that the adult advisers have had to caution them about one important thing. Since the youths will have to run the events that they create, the adults felt it was critical to keep their ambitions in perspective and their minds on why the Lebanon Area Fair exists.
“They are volunteering for so many things that we had to tell them to remember to save some time to have fun at the fair, which is the reason you love the fair,” said Werner. “We told them to take time to create some happy memories and to hang out with their friends, too.”
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