It’s almost that time of year again; the weather starts to cool, leaves begin to turn, everyone debates who has the best college football team, and of course, the Kiwanis Ogeechee Fair is right around the corner!
October 14th kicks off the 62nd Annual Kiwanis Ogeechee Fair. It has been the main fundraising event for the Kiwanis Club of Statesboro, with the goal of making our community a better place to be a kid.
This event raises many thousands of dollars each year, which is donated to a variety of community projects, including scholarships for graduating high school seniors, museum trips for elementary school students, wheelchair ramps for local residents, supplies for kids in foster care, and many other worthy children's organizations and activities.
The fair has a lot of moving parts, with many Kiwanis Club members working countless hours behind the scenes to ensure that all these parts are synchronized, and in perfect working order.
Here’s a breakdown of the scheduled events:
- September 28th, at 10:00am, the Miss Kiwanis Ogeechee Fair Pageant, kicks off at the Pittman Park Methodist Church Education Center. Peighton White is the 2023 Miss Kiwanis Ogeechee Fair, and went on to compete at the Miss Georgia / South Carolina Fairs Convention in Greenville SC in January. For those interested in competing, pageant applications can be found on the fair website, www.kiwanisogeecheefair.com.
- October 14th at 5:00pm, Downtown Statesboro will host the Kiwanis Ogeechee Fair Parade. Last year’s parade was the best yet, with 134 entries, and we hope to make this year even better! One of the keys to its success was the Georgia Southern Homecoming Parade combining with our fair parade. Well guess what? It’s happening again this year! For those who want to participate in the parade, go to www.kiwanisogeecheefair.com and fill out the parade application. You will be notified by email about one week before the parade, what your number, and staging location is.
- October 14th, at 6:30pm, this year’s Fair Chairman Bobby Turner, will cut the ribbon to open the gates and let all the fun begin! The scheduled events at the fairgrounds are:
- Livestock shows: Tuesday, 6pm, Hog Show; Wednesday, 6pm, Goat Show; Thursday, 6pm, Lamb Show; and Saturday, at 1pm, the Cattle Show wraps up our week of livestock shows.
- Live bands: Monday, 7pm, The Ripleys; Tuesday, 7pm, A1A, a Jimmy Buffett Tribute show; Wednesday, 7pm, The Tams; Thursday, 7pm, The Swingin’ Medallions; Friday, 7pm, Abbey Road Live, a Beatles tribute band; and Saturday, 7pm, Drew Wiggins and Friends.
There will be live shows each night, including the ever-popular Rosaires Royal Racers pig races, Camp Carousel Petting Zoo, The Steamers Thrill Show, Lance Giffords Magic Theater, Alford E. Gator, and The Wheels of Agriculture Game Show. All of these bands and entertainment acts are free with admission.
On top of all that, there’s an exciting midway provided by Amusements of America, and lest we forget: Fair Food! Pancakes, funnel cake, candied apples, cotton candy, and fried anything you can think of!
We hope to see you there! Everybody cut footloose!