Somber board gives COVID-19 Swift County Fair report to county

By Reed Anfinson
Publisher
Swift County Monitor-News
It was a somber Swift Fair board executive committee that met with the Swift County Board of Commissioners last Tuesday. For a county fair that has seen so much success in the recent past 2020 will be a year to forget.

It was a year of missed celebration for the Swift County Fair due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the departure of a mainstay of the board, and the tragic loss of an influential and hardworking fair board member.

This summer, Swift County Fair president and long-time fair board member Jon Panzer left Appleton to take a job with WDSE/WRPT Public Television in Duluth. He had spent over 30 years with Pioneer Public TV in Appleton and then Granite Falls. He held the positions of director of engineering, station manager and interim general manager with the station.

Then, Oct. 24, Scott “Montana” Smith died from injuries suffered in a car accident. Fair board members plan to honor Smith through a building project that is in the planning stage.

Last Tuesday, new Fair Board President Eric Turnquist, Vice President Jane Saulsbury, and Secretary Jane Stassen met with the Swift County Board of Commissioners to give them an update on fair activities...
 
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