Tourism funds go to Alva Regional Jackpot
January 7, 2018
In a special meeting Friday noon, the Alva Tourism and Convention Committee heard about a new event to bring visitors to town.
Craig Hamil of Freedom presented plans for the Alva Regional Jackpot, a swine jackpot to be held Saturday, Jan. 13, at the Woods County Fairgrounds in Alva. Hamil said he and Troy Gosney, who is the Major County extension agent, are organizing the show with staffing help from the NWOSU Aggie Club.
In this first year, Hamil said they're limiting entries to the Alva district, a three county area including Alfalfa, Major and Woods counties.
The fairground facilities limit the number of entrants to about 300. Once the new arena is built, Hamil said they would expect to expand with around 500 to 600 entries and events the entire weekend. There was some discussion about adding a sheep show, but he was reluctant because he lacks experience in that area. Hamil said in the future there might be a hog show on Saturday and a sheep show on Sunday.
Animals for the Saturday show will start arriving after 5 p.m. on Friday. Hamil said many entrants will bring their animals that night and get them settled in for the show the next day. Some of the people will stay in motel rooms in Alva that night.
The Freedom Sirloin Club will staff a concession stand during the show, offering a small menu on Saturday. But people showing animals and those attending will be buying meals in Alva.
Hamil and Gosney asked for $1,995 from tourism tax funds. That will cover the judging and awards. The budget worksheet for the show lists projected revenue of $4,500 with $500 from sponsors and the remaining amount from registration fees. Registration is $20, and they're projecting 200 entries. The tourism funding request covers all the listed expenses. Hamil said they hope in the near future to make the event self-supporting.
Hamil said swine jackpots are a very popular attraction in the area. For the same weekend, Woodward is planning a regional show that doesn't include any of the Alva district. Woodward is charging for pens along with the registration fees, and they sold out all 400 pens in 15 minutes. Hamil said he'd like to keep the pens free to encourage student entries.
Tourism committee members expressed interest in helping a new event. Committee Chairman Norville Ritter asked about advertising since the jackpot was only a week away.
Hamil said they decided to hold the event on Dec. 20 and sent out emails to contacts including every ag teacher in the three-county area. All the teachers have indicated they'll participate. He said they printed some flyers but had very little expense for spreading the word.
Dr. Charles Tucker told Hamil, "We normally don't sponsor 100 percent. But that's what we're here for – to get things started." He made the motion to approve the $1,995 requested. The motion was seconded and approved unanimously.
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