Historical December 1979 report or notice. Original dates, prices and contacts describe the source period; current availability has not been established.
At its organizational meeting on October 19, the Skiner-DeBaliviere Art Fair/House Tour Committee devoted a large portion of its discussion to the state of the budget —past, present, and future. As we go into plans for the 1980 Fair, the checkbook balance is about $85 less than at this time last year. There are several reasons for this, beginning with the everpresent inflation. Certain expenses such as postage, printing, and insurance remain the same or increase regardless of attendance or the weather. In ‘contrast, paid tickets for the House Tour dropped in number from the previous year (372 tickets sold) and artist entries remained the same (95 spaces). Finally, we may continue to benefit from the. advertising we get on the tee-shirts that were sold last year, but there remains a fairly large stock of shirts to sell and all future proceeds will go to benefit The Paper.
The committee was therefore faced with the necessity of making several decisions for the coming fair. The admission price for the House Tour will be increased and a family rate will be introduced. The fee for rental of artists’ spaces will also be increased and in a drive to compete with the growing number of art fairs (being one of the oldest art fairs doesn’t count), an effort to get more artists to enter will be made and a special prize category will be announced. The fund raisers or concessions may also be charged a fee and a committee has been formed to increase the number of food concessions. Finally, circumstances beyond our control and budget may force the committee to drop one form of advertising and/or decorating for the Fair. While many of us may feel that the raising of the banner across Skinker signifies that it is almost time for the Fair, we lost the almost new banner last May when it came down in the wind and was destroyed by cars running aver it (probably all county residents). It could be taped together but will never be strong enough to fly. The expenses of a new banner combined with the new set of city regulations imposed this year, set against the potential savings in not having to buy insurance outweigh the advantages of flying the banner. While budget evaluation is not the most exciting way to spend an evening, it did require those die-hards who attended the meeting to do some serious thinking about the annual fair and house tour, its purposes and potential, and how things have changed since the Skinker-DeBaliviere Fair was started 12 years ago. As we consider variations from the original intent of the Fair, those who have formed the initial planning committee for the 1980 Fair hope that many residents will give their suggestions and time in making the next fair, not only financially but in all ways, bigger and better.
Originally published in The Paper, December 1979.
Read this article in the original newspaper issue.
Original source: SD_Times1979_12.pdf, printed page(s) 6; PDF page(s) 6.
