by Missy Thompson

STAFF WRITER

The Tooele County Fair has been brought back under the big top of Tooele County in a move to save money and return the event to its traditional roots.

Francine Dea, director of the fair for the past four years, was cut by the county last September. County Commissioner Colleen Johnson said the decision to cut Dea and turn the fair over to the county's parks and recreation department was based strictly on budgetary concerns.

"Historically the fair has been run by volunteers," Johnson said. "It has never made money. It's one of those things you do because it's tradition. It would be nice to break even though."

Johnson said county officials want to make the 2008 Tooele County Fair more like a country fair than a commercial event. Parks and rec director Mark McKendrik is spearheading the effort.

"Mark is trying to make it more family-friendly and less expensive, with a hometown feel," said Lindsay Sundloff, parks and recreation marketing specialist.

For starters, that means cutting the headline concert. Previously Keith Urban, Lone Star and Little Texas have performed at the fair. Billy Currington was scheduled to perform last year but fell ill and Little Texas stepped in as his replacement.

"[The commissioners] eliminated the concert and that was a big event, but not necessarily a crowd-drawer," Sundloff said. "The thing that the fair is in competition with is that there are other big concerts going on the same night."

"The last two years, the concert hasn't been financially successful," Johnson said. "This year we decided to book some free entertainment."

Despite the new direction, Johnson said Dea was not let go because of poor performance.

"Francine did a fantastic job," Johnson said. "I have no complaints with what she did, we just thought we'd try a new direction."

Dea, however, has complaints.

"I was upset at the fact that I had given the community six years and all I got in return was a call on my cell phone [telling her she was being cut]," Dea said. "I do feel that my wages had nothing to do with it. I put my family and my business on hold many times for the fair. I was very committed to trying to make the fair the best that it could be for the community, striving to get new events each year. I was also trying to save money wherever possible."

The commitment to the fair is not just for a few days out of the year, but the entire year, Dea said.

"There is work to be done on a daily basis all year round," she said. "As soon as you're finished with one fair, you need to start working on the next year's events."

Dea volunteered as the fair director for four years before telling commissioners she needed to be compensated for her time in 2006.

"The fair director really is a full-time job," she said. "The commissioners didn't want to pay me anything at first, but after checking with other counties in the state, they realized they were actually getting a bargain by paying me only $12,000 a year."

Dea feels moving the fair back in-house will produce an inferior event.

"I feel that this county has taken a few giant steps backward again," Dea said. "And that is very unfortunate for the community."

missy@tooeletranscript.com