DISTRICT FAIR ENTERTAINMENT WILL HAVE A COUNTRY FLAIR IN 1991

Entertainment for the 1991 edition of the Southeast Missouri District Fair takes on a decidedly country flair this year with headliners Ricky Skaggs and Shenandoah.

Other grandstand entertainers include contemporary Christian musician Steven Curtis Chapman, and a team of rising country stars, Joe Diffie and Neal McCoy.

Fair Board President Pete Poe announced the entertainment lineup Monday. The 1991 fair will be held Sept. 8-14 at Arena Park in Cape Girardeau.

The week of grandstand entertainment also includes fair favorites, the demolition derby and the tractor pull.

The famous Budweiser Clydesdale horses will be part of the district fair for the first time since 1988. Fairgoers will be able to see the Clydesdales in the annual fair parade Monday of fair week and at the fairgrounds the rest of the week.

The horses will arrive in Cape Girardeau Friday before the fair starts and stay through the following Sunday, after the fair is over.

"That's nine days," Poe said, "the longest time the Clydesdales are in one location in 1991."

The Clydesdales will be available for public viewing eight of the nine days they are in Cape Girardeau. Daily performances by the horses are planned in the grandstand. The specific times have not been set.

Grandstand tickets go on sale Aug. 5.

Last year the fair began accepting credit cards for grandstand ticket purchases. Poe said 53 percent of all tickets were purchased with credit cards. Credit cards will again be accepted this year.

The fair association is adding an 800 number this year to make it easier for fairgoers to get ticket information. The number is 1-800-455-FAIR. The phone line will be activated July 29 and the fair office opens the same day. The local number for fair information is 334-9250.

"Eight weeks from today we will be in the middle of lining up for our fair parade," Poe said Monday. "The fair is just eight short weeks away."

Parade marshal this year is Oak Ridge astronaut Linda Godwin. She will speak Monday on the fairgrounds.

Poe said volunteers last year gave an estimated 20,000 hours to the fair.

Entertainment buyer for the fair this year is Mike Ford. Poe said: "We told him `shop till you drop.' We didn't want to give the farm away, but we didn't want anyone who was going to break us."

The line-up is as follows:

Monday: Demolition Derby, $6.

Tuesday: Tractor Pull, $6.

Wednesday: Joe Diffie and Neal McCoy, $10.50, $8.50 and $6.50. Diffie, is a rising country star whose first song, "Home," hit the top of three trade charts for two weeks in a row. Neal McCoy is the opening act for country star Charlie Pride. He sings blues, Cajun and western swing in addition to country picking.

Thursday: Steven Curtis Chapman, $10.50, $8:50 and $6.50. Chapman won Gospel Music's artist of the year, male vocalist of the year, songwriter of the year, inspirational recorded song of the year for "His Strength is Perfect," and southern gospel recorded song of the year, "I Can See the Hand."

Friday: Ricky Skaggs, $12.50, $10.50 and $8.50. Skaggs' new release, "Kentucky Thunder," rounds out a decade of hit country music. He has been honored as Country Music Association's male vocalist of the year and entertainer of the year.

Saturday: Shenandoah, $12.50, $10.50 and $8.50. Shenandoah, one of the hottest new bands, scored five number one singles and even more Top 5 and Top 10 hits with their blend of old-fashion and new-styled country music.

"Grandstand entertainment is a money-maker for the fair," Poe said. The fair association spent $87,500 on live entertainment this year and hopes to make back that investment plus profit to help fund next year's exposition.

Poe said country and gospel music should prove popular with fairgoers. "We have tried several other things, including rock, and they just didn't work."

He said performers this year range from pure country to Christian to a contemporary musical mix.

The fair has added two corporate sponsors, bringing the total to seven.

"It is the support of our corporate sponsors that makes the fair possible," Poe said. "The seven corporate sponsors also make us better business people because we are managing their money."

Corporate sponsors for the fair are Coca-Cola Bottling Company of Southeast Missouri, Cybertel Cellular Phones, Exchange Bank of Cape Girardeau and Jackson, Farrow Amusement Co., Schaper's IGA/Save-A-Lot Food Stores, Southeast Missourian/Concord Printing Services and Zimmer Broadcasting.

Again this year, the fair offers the "Sneak a Peek" day Sunday. Gate admission is free. The midway will be open and main events for the day are the annual horse show at 2 p.m. and Freedom Celebration '91 at 5:30 p.m.

The fair is presented each year through the Southeast Missouri District Fair Association, a 700-member group led by a 12-member board of directors.

Poe said planning for the fair is under way 12 months a year. "We haven't gotten the 1991 fair under our belts and we're already working on ideas for the '92 fair."

He said the fair association and the carnival are not the only ones to make money from the fair. "In 1990, the service clubs that set up booths at the fair returned about $72,000 to their own coffers."