Come on out to the Fairgrounds on Tuesday 6.23.08...

Some BIG THANK YOU"S going out -

Josh Lambert from Goats "N Such for the priming and painting of the ceiling. That was a big job, and it looks great.

Bob Hale who is Lori Ostrom's (Saprta Livestock) dad spent Friday after the meeting starting on the box building. He got a lot done and they look great.

Today Mike and Cindy Nosko (Boondockers) are building more of the boxes, and anchoring them to the concrete wall for stability.

It was decided to stain the boxes rather than paint. It will penetrate the wood more and not flake off. I'll be picking that up on Monday. Tuesday will be a work day, bring a paint brush if you can help with the staining. I will be down there about 11:00am.

Ron Wenger and Bob McWhinny from the fairgrounds have also done a lot to help.

It's getting there, we can always use more help. The more that pitch in the easier it is.

Thanks,
Maruszka

Goat Pens update... can you paint today?

Hi all,

Many thanks to Josh Lambert who came out last night and sprayed most of the ceiling and Todd MacQueen who did more raking.

The fair has rollers and pans for anyone who would like to come out and start on the walls. I'll leave some in the goat barn. They close up at 5 or 5:30 so if you come before that they will make sure you can get in the goat barn. Otherwise let me know and I will make sure it is unlocked.

Always please lock the padlock when you leave.

They are just waiting for all the painting to get done so they can have the gravel brought in so please anyone who can help let's get it done.

After the gravel than pens will be constructed.

Thanks,
Maruszka

Animal Disease Management Plan

At the May Fair board meeting the animal disease outbreak plan for the fair was approved. Each animal division was asked to write up a plan for their area in case a disease outbreak occurred.

I wrote our plan and it was reviewed and approved with a few suggestions by Dr.
Dan Hart DVM.

It is posted here for your information and all who are coming to Fair should take some time to read it, it is only 2 pages long. (See link under "Kent County 2008" on the right margin of the website).

Thanks,
Maruszka Hufstader

Tuesday August 10th - opportunity!

Hi all,

Josh Lambert from Goats N' Such will be at the barn Tuesday evening to spray paint the ceiling. A few dads or older boys who could help would be appreciated.
Carpentry opportunities are coming soon. I will keep you posted.

Thanks,
Maruszka

We are making progress.....time to paint - can you help?

Hi all,

Many thanks to the Boondockers club who power washed a second time removing even more of the flaked paint on the ceiling. Also many thanks for a lot of work put in by some North Kent 4Her families, raking out the large amount of paint chips all over the floor of the barn. It's looking a lot better.

We are ready for paint please help. We need a few volunteers to spray the ceiling and walls which will be in the back of the pens. We are starting to fall behind a little on the calendar. Please contact me at m_v_huf@att.net if you can help. There is still a lot to be done to get things ready for fair.

Thanks,
Maruszka

MDGS Show = June 14 @ Ionia

from MIGOAT yahoo group posting:

The MDGS Youth show will be held June 14 at the Ionia Fair Grounds in Ionia MI.

There are no entry fees for this show (must be a youth with animals registered in the youth's name). However to help with the expenses for this Youth Show we are asking for donations. There will be a raffle table with the proceeds going for expenses. Dorothea is also accepting monetary donations towards the expense of prizes for the youth and to pay the other expenses.

If you have any questions you can contact Dorothea at 269-673-1749

Thank you - but more help is needed.

Thank you to all who have stepped forward to help with the goat pens. More help is still needed so please step up and volunteer.

See eMAIL below for work to be done.

Help is needed to finish to goat barn...

Hi all,
I received the following from Todd MacQueen. Do we really want to have new pens but a lost opportunity to paint? Please Please help with this. The next fairboard meeting isn't until June 11 and we should be done with the painting by then so we can start the pen construction.
Maruska


From Todd:

Good Morning Maruszka,

We ran into some problems working on the barn last night. I started painting but had to stop for a couple of reasons. The old paint flaking off still has to be scraped because the power washing didn’t get everything and there’s still a lot of loose paint. We scraped until dark but there’s a lot of scraping to be done and we only scratched the surface. If we don’t do this right we’ll be back in the same situation next year.

The way I see it is we have two options:

If the barn is to be painted before fair it’ll need to be a huge effort on the part of every club and the fair board. It’ll require cooperation and scheduling of large groups working together possibly working shifts ...

The other option is to simply skip painting. I hate the idea of leaving the barn looking like it does but I’m just not sure we’ll get the kind of cooperation we’ll need to get it painted in time...

If we try to pull this off, I see it going something like this:

Scraping
(40) volunteers (minimum) for 8 to 10 hours
(10) 6ft ladders
(10) 8ft ladders
Scaffolding if anyone has some
(40) scrapers
Rakes and shovels for cleanup

Painting
(40) volunteers (minimum) for 10 to 12 hours
(10) 6ft ladders
(10) 8ft ladders
Scaffolding if anyone has some
(2) airless sprayers (rentals typically cost $120 for a weekend)
(20) paint brushes
(30) paint rollers
Rags

Do you think the fair board would be willing to supply the airless sprayers since its Lowell’s buildings we’re painting?

The North Kent 4Hers will be willing to help with the project, but we have only seven kids showing goats now ... This is a big project… do you think we’ll get the cooperation we need from all of the clubs? Please share your thoughts.

Thanks,

Todd