Saturday, April 17, 2010

2010 Racing at the Afton Driving Park

The Afton Fair Board is extremely happy to announce that we have entered into a mutually agreeable contract with Ronnie Ford and Jamie Page to take over racing at the dirt track at Afton. Work will start in preparation for the season tomorrow.

Stay tuned for more information! Announcements will be posted here, on the Afton Fair Website and our facebook and myspace pages as it becomes available!

Wednesday, April 7, 2010

April 1st Newsletter now available

The April 1st newsletter is now available on the website. It includes articles about the Harness Racing Program, The Open Horse Show, recent website updates and more. Please visit: http://www.theaftonfair.com/newsletters.shtml to view or download.

Saturday, March 13, 2010

Floral Hall Section of Website updated, and other updates

The Floral Hall Section of the Afton Fair Website has been updated. The rules and regulations, entry form, departments and class lists are available as web pages for browsing and as pdf's for printing. Visit
http://www.theaftonfair.com/floral-hall-directory.shtml

We are still accepting submissions for recipes for the 2010 Floral Hall Cookbook. Instructions on how to submit are on the same page linked to above.

In the next few weeks we will be ready to release some of the entertainment and grandstand events for the 2010 Afton Fair. Stay tuned!

Monday, February 1, 2010

February 1 Newsletter

The February 1 Newsletter of the Afton Driving Park and Agricultural Association, Inc. and The Afton Fair has been posted. It includes articles on the return of Gillette Shows to the Afton Fair in 2010, the new fair dates, Floral Hall updates, the NYSAAF Annual Convention in Rochester NY, and The Afton Fair on the Web. Please check it out at http://www.theaftonfair.com/newsletters.shtml

The next newsletter will be released on April 1. You can advertise in our newsletter by filling out the newsletter advertising form: http://www.theaftonfair.com/09-10newsletter-advertising.pdf

Have a great day!

Wednesday, January 20, 2010

Gillette Shows returns to the Afton Fair

The Afton Fair board is very happy to announce that Gillette Shows will return to the Afton Fair in 2010. Representatives of the Fair Board met with Betty and her sons Jerry and Jules at the 122nd New York State Association of Agricultural Fairs last week in Rochester, New York.

In order to fit into the schedule it was necessary to change the dates of the fair, which will now be held from Wednesday, July 21 - Sunday, July 25.

Put us on your calendar and visit us at the 121st Afton Fair!

Tuesday, January 19, 2010

January updates (more to come soon)

Board Members represented the Afton Fair at the NYS Association of Agricultural Fairs in Rochester NY the weekend of January 15 - 18. The representatives will brief the full board concerning the convention and of news concerning our 2010 midway and fair dates. At that point a full update will be posted.

We are very excited!

The next newsletter of the Afton Driving Park will be released on February 1st. It will include updates on the Afton Fair dates, our new midway and updates on 2010 Floral Hall.

Stay tuned!

Sunday, December 6, 2009

December Updates

The Afton Fair Board is working on getting the bigger rides into the Afton Fair. It would be great to snap our fingers and have it be done, but it doesn't work that way. You have to negotiate and review contracts with a fine tooth comb. As soon as a decision is made we will post an announcement here -- and on our Facebook, Twitter, MySpace accounts as well as our website, www.theaftonfair.com

With winter here things slow down at the fairgrounds. Not a lot of other events. The horsepeople have their horses there, and an open track to practice on.

The next newsletter of the Afton Driving Park and Agricultural Association, Inc. will be released on December 15. It will be available in the Afton and Bainbridge areas, as well as a PDF on the website.

Stay tuned!

Thursday, November 12, 2009

Annual Meeting and Advertising Opportunities

The Annual Meeting of The Afton Driving Park and Agricultural Association, Inc.

The annual meeting of the Afton Driving Park will take place on Monday, November 23, 2009 at 7:00 PM in the Susquehanna Room of the Afton Community Center. We encourage all stockholders to attend the meeting, get information on our 2009 successes, and discuss the challenges facing us in 2010. The Board of Directors is an all-volunteer group whose goal is to maintain and make improvements to the Afton Driving Park and The Afton Fair each year. We are seeking additional volunteers to help us face this challenge. We welcome constructive criticism and are interested in hearing your ideas. More information: http://www.theaftonfair.com/ or our most recent newsletter: http://www.theaftonfair.com/newsletters.shtml

Advertising Opportunities for the 2010 Afton Fair

The advertising package for the 2010 Afton Fair has been uploaded to the website. You can purchase an advertising package for the fair, advertise on our website or advertise in our newsletter. For full information visit: http://www.theaftonfair.com/sponsorship.shtml

Sunday, November 8, 2009

Latest Newsletter available on the website

The latest newsletter of the Afton Driving Park and Agricultural Association is now available on the Afton Fair website as a pdf document. It includes a letter to stockholders concerning the upcoming annual meeting as well as some highlights from 2009. There is also an article about the 2010 Afton Fair Floral Hall Cookbook.

http://www.theaftonfair.com/newsletters.shtml

Check it out!

Thanks, REB

Saturday, November 7, 2009

An Introduction to the Afton Fair

The Afton Fair will be held for the 121st year in July of 2010. It is an agricultural fair and is located in Afton, in Chenango County, New York. Afton is located approximately 25 miles northeast of Binghamton, NY, 120 southeast of Albany, NY and 27 miles south of Norwich, NY.

Afton is a small village that has a school, Afton Central School, some small businesses, a grocery store, a hardware store, a post office, a veterinarian hospital/clinic, 2 bars, 3 or 4 restaurants, and the Afton Driving Park and Agricultural Association, Inc., the not-for-profit organization that plans and manages the main event of the year, The Afton Fair. Afton is located right off of interstate 88, and the Afton Fairgrounds can be seen from the highway.

The purpose of this blog is to make as many people as possible aware of the Afton Fair exists, and to hopefully get more people to bring their families to the fair.

Our challenges include a low budget for advertising, which is the reason I am utilizing a blog to hopefully get out the word to more people. Another challenge we have is that we compete with The Chenango County Fair, located in Norwich, NY, the Otsego County Fair in Morris, NY, The Delaware County Fair in Walton, NY, The Broome County Fair in Whitney Point, NY and the Lumberjack Festival in Deposit, NY. All of these events are within 50 miles of Afton, however are spread out throughout the summer. These events seem to get all the sponsors, while we have struggled for years to get sponsors for our fair.

We have launched an extensive campaign to get sponsors this year. Sponsorships are very important to an Agricultural Fair. In order to be able to take the risk of bringing in the events and shows that people want to see, we need to have a good portion of it paid for. Charging for grandstand events will pay for part of it, however with our current attendance numbers, we cannot count on grandstand fees alone.

Stay tuned for updates about the 2010 Afton Fair as we dive into planning the event!