THE BALLOON MAN

Nevada State Fair ending after 136 years

By Associated Press

Devils Lake Journal

Mar 10, 2011

Devils Lake, ND — RENO, Nev. (AP) — The board of directors for the Nevada State Fair says there won't be one this summer.Board members say budget shortfalls leave them no choice but to bring an end to the fair for the first time in 136 years.Executive director Rich Crombie said in a statement Wednesday that a last-ditch fundraising effort had produced only a fraction of the estimated $250,000 needed to keep the fair from folding up its tent.It means Nevada will join Michigan as the only states in the nation without state fairs.Crombie says they are debt but don't intend to file bankruptcy. He says the hope is to continue to raise money for another state fair in the years ahead. The first Nevada fair was held in 1874.