Board selections cap bumpy year for county fair
Flathead County Fair Board member Ted Dykstra Jr., who served as interim fair manager for several months earlier this year, has stepped down from the Fair Board.
Dykstra did not seek reappointment to the two-year term and will be replaced by Mike Mower. The county commissioners appointed Mower last week.
Mower served four years on the Flathead County Planning Board. Prior to his early retirement, he was responsible for global strategic planning for what is now the world’s largest oil-and-gas contracting company.
In his letter seeking appointment to the board, Mower said he and his wife are heavily invested in Flathead County in three major areas: downtown commercial real estate, a construction supply business and raising Highland cattle.
He has raised and shown Highland cattle for 20 years and is halter-training calves for the 2011 stock show in Denver.
Wes McAlpin, who was appointed to the Fair Board in April to fill out the remainder of Paul Atkinson’s term, has been reappointed to serve a full two-year term. Atkinson resigned from the board in February when Jay Scott’s contract was not renewed as fair manager.
Through the years McAlpin has served as a 4-H project leader, showmanship judge, livestock scale operator and organizer for the FFA market livestock buyers’ lunch.
McAlpin has been a certified 4-H shooting sports instructor in several disciplines for more than 12 years.
The five-member Fair Board underwent dramatic change in 2010 and it has all new members except board chairman Butch Woolard.
In January the county commissioners replaced longtime Fair Board member Terry Fosbery with marketing consultant Joy Struble. Not long after that, board member Susan Munsinger resigned amid the controversy over Scott being ousted from his job. She was replaced by C.M. “Butch” Clark.
The year 2010 was a tumultuous one for the fairgrounds.
After Scott was let go, a large group of Scott’s supporters staged a public campaign to get him reinstated and wanted the entire Fair Board replaced. Scott’s dismissal was prompted by concerns the Fair Board had about his ability to properly manage the fairgrounds and an internal audit that showed security concerns and discrepancies in the way cash was handled.
Scott later sued the county and several members of the Fair Board, alleging he was wrongfully discharged and publicly embarrassed when the board chose not to renew his contract.
The commissioners stuck by their decisions, keeping the Fair Board intact and proceeding with advertising for a new fair manager.
They hired Mark Campbell as fairgrounds operations manager. Campbell, who moved to the Flathead from Washington with more than 25 years of fair manager experience under his belt, began work on Oct. 12.
Amid the turmoil, the Northwest Montana Fair in August had its highest attendance in recent years — up 56 percent from 2009 — due largely to the return of horse racing.
Features editor Lynnette Hintze may be reached at 758-4421 or by e-mail at lhintze@dailyinterlake.com