THE BALLOON MAN

Grems out as fairgrounds boss

Dutchess County Fairgrounds General Manager Bob Grems speaks during the Dutchess County Fair a press conference Thursday, August, 6, 2009, at the Dutchess County Fairgrounds in Rhinebeck. / Karl Rabe/Poughkeepsie Journal

Written bySarah Bradshaw/ Poughkeepsie Journal

Jan. 20, 2012

RHINEBECK — With about eight months until the next county fair, and its general manager position unfilled, the Dutchess County Fairgrounds is in flux.The Dutchess County Agricultural Society, which owns the 170-acre fairgrounds, announced in a press release Thursday that Bob Grems is “no longer affiliated as the general manager” of the fairgrounds and an executive committee will supervise operations until a replacement is named.Grems confirmed the announcement Thursday, calling it an “official termination,” but declined to immediately comment, adding he had to speak with his lawyer due to “legal considerations.”Stating the vacancy was effective Thursday and declining to give a reason, the board wished Grems “well in future endeavors” and expressed appreciation for his contribution to the society and the fair during his tenure.The board’s Long Range Planning Committee will be in charge of appointing a new manager. Grems’ 2010 base salary was $100,331.The fairgrounds, a nonprofit, generates about $45 million in economic impact, creates 688 local jobs and contributes about $34 million in direct and indirect spending locally, according to a speech Grems gave in July at a Rhinebeck Area Chamber of Commerce breakfast.The fairgrounds’ net assets were about $6.3 million at the beginning of 2011, nonprofit financial documents show. That’s slightly up from $6.2 million at the start of 2010, but down from $6.95 million at the beginning of 2008.In August, Tropical Storm Irene forced the cancellation of the last two days of the county’s 166th fair, typically the best-attended days: Saturday and Sunday. Grems estimated then the shutdown had a costly economic impact of “tens of millions of dollars,” he said in a previous Journal article.Last year’s total fair attendance was 198,658, said Deborah Aschmann, a fairgrounds spokeswoman. The weather and sudden closure greatly affected attendance compared to figures of 360,992 in 2009 and 400,560 in 2008, according to the Journal’s archive.read more at:http://www.poughkeepsiejournal.com/article/20120120/NEWS01/301200028/Grems-out-fairgrounds-boss