Needed Funds: John L. Scott presents fairground donation | News

“It’s an aging fairgrounds, and so there’s a lot of work that needs to be done. Without the community we couldn’t do it. Without these funds, we couldn’t do it,” Howell said. 

Powell said that the fundraiser was a great success, and there was great participation from businesses to support the event. Count Commissioner Margaret Magruder even rode a mechanical bull during the festivities. 

While the funds will help address some of the problems with the roofing, Howell said the cost of repairing each roof was about $56,000 when the project was initially bid about two years ago. Howell said the funds from the fundraiser would go into a pool that was specifically designated for the roofs. 

“We’ll accept all the donations we can get,” Howell said. “We’re putting all the money aside for roofing.” 

Something that Howell said they might work on to gather more donations is the idea of collecting donations by pricing out sheets of the roofs and having people be able to donate by buying roof sheets. The idea would be to then put donors’ names on the barns that have restored roofs. Howell said they are still working on trying to put that idea into practice. 

If interested in donating to the Columbia County Fairgrounds, call (503) 397-4231.