Taking care of the finances is a big part of keeping the SEMO District Fair up and running

Pete Poe's "office" much of last week was the cab of his pickup truck as he logged mile after mile around and through Cape Girardeau's Arena Park.

Next to him, on the truck's center console, was his cellphone and a note pad where he kept track of all the things that needed to be done before the SEMO District Fair opened.

Poe has been associated with the fair for nearly 40 years, is a past president of the SEMO District Fair Association and volunteers as the fair's director of publicity and promotions.

And while most people only see the fair's fun, food and entertainment, Poe and other members of the association see the fair's financial picture, as well.

"There's definitely a business side to the fair," he said as he watched food concessionaires and carnival rides pull onto the fairgrounds.

History

Although the SEMO District Fair today is on solid financial ground, that wasn't always the case.

"Actually, the fair association has gone broke a couple of times," Poe said

Established in 1853 by the Missouri Legislature as one of the state's four "district" fairs, the first SEMO District Fair took place in 1855 in the vicinity of South Ellis and South Frederick streets.

"That's where the first fair was," Poe said. "It was there a few years and then along came the Civil War, and the fair went away for a number of reasons, including the fact that the Union Army took over the fairgrounds and used some of the buildings for firewood. It wasn't suitable for a fairground after that."

After the Civil War, the fair was relocated to an area that today would be along South Kingshighway in the vicinity of what is now the Kings Row building.

"When it moved to South Kingshighway, it was way out of town and difficult to get to," Poe said. "There weren't any streets out there, and the city limits back then was Pacific Street. People had to walk to get to the fair and it eventually went broke."

The fair eventually moved once again to an new fairgrounds closer to the western edge of Cape Girardeau.

"It stayed there until the late 1920s, 1929 to be exact, and then went belly up again due to the Great Depression," Poe said. "The fairgrounds were sold to the city, and it became what is now Capaha Park.

By the late 1930s, Cape Girardeau's western boundary had extended west to include the area now known as Arena Park and the Arena Building was commissioned in 1939 under a Work Projects Administration contract. The fair opened the following year, 1940, in and around the Arena Building.

Here and now

In the nearly 80 years since then, the fairgrounds have expanded significantly and now occupy 127 acres surrounding the Arena Building in all directions.

"From the business side of it, we're the largest predominantly volunteer fair in the state," Poe said with pride and noted while the Missouri State Fair in Sedalia and the Ozark Empire Fair in Springfield are larger in terms in terms of staffing and budget, "both of those fairs are on permanent fairgrounds with paid staffs that operate various things year round. We're the largest 'pop-up' eight-day fair in the state."

About 90,000 people will attend the fair this week, Poe estimated, and said it will be a few thousand more if the weather is good, a few thousand less if it rains a lot or if the heat and humidity get too high.

"We have a chance for showers a couple of times (this week) and they were calling for 91 degrees on Tuesday, which, when you get into the business side of it, 91 degrees is too hot for people to enjoy," he said. "When it's that hot, they don't drink sodas, they don't drink beer and they don't eat food."

Revenue

About 30% of the fair's revenue is generated by gate admissions. The price of admission is $5 for those 12 and older (but it's free before 1 p.m. weekdays "because we want to encourage people to come out and have lunch," Poe explained).

Another 30% of the fair's revenue comes from fees paid by the midway carnival operator -- which is Miller Spectacular Shows for the second consecutive year -- while vendors and concessionaires contribute another 25% to the fair's bottom line. Other sources, including grandstand entertainment ticket sales and sponsor fees, make up the rest.

"Our sponsors are very important to us for several reasons," Poe said. "No. 1 is the revenue, but it also gives us another way to promote the fair through their organizations."

Asked whether he could estimate how many corn dogs or funnel cakes would be consumed during the fair, Poe said "No, and that's on purpose. We don't want to get into that. We charge a vendor a flat fee for his stand and how much money he makes is how much money he makes. There are some fairs that do it on a percentage basis, but we don't want to get into that. It's more complicated. We simply have a mutually agreed on price and that way vendors know what it's going to cost for them to come here."

As for where the money goes, Poe pointed to the livestock area filled with multicolored tents.

"We'll spend about $30,000 for tent rental," he said. "And in the livestock and competitive exhibits, we'll hand out about $60,000 in prize money. We'll spend another $20,000 for our 42 port-a-potties and 10 hand-washing stations scattered around the fairgrounds and our insurance is about $14,000 a year."

Other expenses include about $25,000 for utilities, $25,000 for people to staff entry gates and parking areas, $9,000 to underwrite events at the activities tent and $3,500 to pay for tractor and tram fuel during the week, not to mention the cost of the grandstand entertainment.

"All told, we'll spend around $300,000, easy," Poe said.

The future

Any money left over after paying all the bills is used for fair maintenance and improvements.

"Some of our money goes to fairground improvement based on priority and need," Poe said. "We may look around and, if the need isn't there, we won't spend it."

One need that may be on the horizon, Poe said, is replacement of the 65-year-old Future Farmers of America barn.

"The FFA barn is something we talk about all the time. Has it outlived its life? Probably. It was built in 1954 and we've added on to it a time or two," Poe said. "We've tried to maintain it and keep it up, but it has some age on it."

In recent years, the fair association has purchased several parcels of land to provide additional parking. "Our biggest expenses of late have been property additions," Poe said. "We've acquired 16 pieces of property in the last six or seven years to expand the footprint of Arena Park."

Do you crave business news? Check out B Magazine, and the B Magazine email newsletter. Check it out at www.semissourian.com/newsletters to find out more.