The Fond du Lac County board has approved a request to give the Fond du Lac County Fair more time to pay a $50,000 no-interest loan from the County. The board approved the request for a two year extension at their meeting Tuesday night with supervisors Zorn and Schumacher voting against. Fair board secretary Matt Immel says he’s very grateful for the board’s support. “We’ve always been very thankful for our relationship with the county,” Immel told WFDL news. Immel says after losing money due to low attendance in 2012 and 2013, the fair rebounded and made a profit last summer and he’s confident the loan will be paid off in two years. “The challenge is the fair occurs once a year. Unfortunately the summer prior (2012) we had 100 degree heat everyday and we didn’t have any crowds coming in during the day.” Immel says this past summer there was decent weather. “We had great crowds, made some adjustments to our pricing structure and we’re confident we can pay the loan back. We will pay the loan back.” County executive Al Buechel says without the extension next year’s fair would probably have to be cancelled.
