Editor, The Era-Leader:
I felt like now was the time to express my opinions before that right is taken away from me.
The fair this year was tainted for me. After checking at a few of the food booths to inquire about the prices of water and drinks, it was shocking to me to discover the cause. True or not, I was told that the fair association had made it a condition of renting or leasing the food booths that the drinks were only to be purchased from the association. No brewed tea or fountain drinks allowed.
It was also mentioned that the prices of renting or leasing the booths had gone up an awful lot. The cost increase of these food booths will soon price out our local businesses and allow out of parish businesses to take over feeding our parish people.
It is hard for me to understand how the fair association can mandate control of fluids which everyone needs while enjoying the fair. I guess the association thinks that if people get thirsty enough they will pay the ridiculous price of $4 a bottle.
What happened to free enterprise? Free enterprise is defined as the freedom of private business to organize and operate for profit in a competitive system without interference by government. Maybe the association is unaware of the term free enterprise. Maybe the association does not see themselves as a government. To me a government is a group of people that has control over others or a geographical area that allows business to be conducted. The fair association is a form of government over the fair grounds and the fair itself. These controls over the fluids at the fair are not what I call democracy or free enterprise.
It was a bit inconvenient carrying around a bottle of water for four days but, worth it based on my principles. I also missed not being able to purchase, from our local vendors, the brewed tea or fountain drinks. Maybe the fair association should ask themselves "Was the loss of reputation worth it?"
This is of course only one man's opinions.
Lawrence Spencer
Franklinton
Response from the
Washington Parish Fair Association:
Everyone involved with the Fair Association is a volunteer. They donate freely of their time with a singular goal: To make the fair as good as it can be. None of the individuals in the Fair Association profit from anything connected to the Fair.
What Mr. Spencer and other folks attending the Fair experienced this year was the unfortunate effect of inflation, as well as a concern for COVID.
Inflation caused the increase in the price of drinks. Bottled drink prices were set by Coca-Cola, the fair’s drink vendor. You may have noticed that even though the price of bottled drinks went up, so did the size of the bottled drinks, from 16 oz last year to 20 oz this year. So while folks paid more due to inflation, at least they got more.
The lack of fountain drinks is directly because of COVID. Fountain drink dispensers have been removed from the fairgrounds and all drinks are sold in bottles, for the safety of people attending the Fair. This is also the reason food vendors are not permitted to make their own tea. While both of these restrictions may be unpleasant, COVID remains a concern and many people appreciate the safeguards that are being taken to protect them from COVID.
The Fair Association does not set prices for the food booths. The food booth operators set their own prices for food, and as we wrote, Coca-Cola sets the prices for the bottled drinks.
Inflation is something we have witnessed in many places, not just at the Fairgrounds. We don’t like it any more than anyone else does but it is unrealistic to think that inflation will not have occurred during the Fair. With the exception of Midway tickets, prices for almost anything else at the Fair went up this year ---- thanks to inflation.
Regardless, prices during the Fair are always a concern. The Fair Asssociation is committed to doing everything in our power to keep prices as low as possible. Anyone concerned about prices or any other aspect of the Fair should contact one of the Fair Association board members. There are 3 board members for each Ward in the parish, for a total of 27 Fair Association board members.
