3-10-2011 Rotary Club meeting

The March 10, 2011 meeting of the Chickasha Rotary Club opened with a prayer, pledge and song. Guests introduced included Shelly Field, Tia Murray, Phillip Wint and visiting Rotarian Harry Meister. Prayer concerns included Janice McVey and Dwain Jones, who is leaving soon for a mission trip to Haiti. President Mark Tibbets announced that the Rotary Run committee would hold a planning meeting immediately after today's club meeting. Chris Mosley and John Mosley volunteered to greet freshman students Friday at Chickasha High School. Rotarian of the Day was Cody White who introduced Peggy McMahan, marketing director of the Grady County Fairgrounds. McMahan told club members a bit of history of the fairgrounds. She said the 1915 county fair was conducted under tents at Shannon Springs Park in Chickasha. After property was obtained east of downtown, the WPA began construction of what is now the fairgrounds complex with the first fair held in 1940. The fairgrounds were used in during WWII as a POW camp for German prisoners. Other key dates in fairgrounds history included the 1972 construction of the community building and the 1998 passage of a county-wide take to make improvements at the fairgrounds. More recently, she donated the major landscaping work and the addition of a the centennial clock on the north side of the property. McMahan said fairgrounds facilities were booked 257 days in 2010 and were on pace to exceed that number in 2011. Upcoming events include a cooking school, a Frontier Days Rodeo and a mounted Territory shooters event during July 4th Weekend. She said the nine-member fair board is currently looking at the possibility of adding another building for livestock. Current facilities available for groups to use include the indoor area/livestock pavilion, junior arena, outdoor arena, community building and the north exhibit building.