Volunteering time, long days and hours for a group, organization, board or any cause–with no type of compensation and most times no thanks– is not for everyone and most times these type people are in short supply. However, one person has been doing such volunteer work for over three decades, with the vast majority as President of the Clinton County Fair Board.

Jackie Flowers recently stepped down in the top position of that volunteer board after having served some 28 years and ironically, was elected to the position as fair board president at his very first meeting back in 1987.

Flowers put in a lot of time and work overseeing operations of the fair on a year-to-year basis, but credited members who had served over the years as making the job much easier and fun to do.

Before joining the Clinton County Fair Board, he had served for three years on the Foothills Festival Committee, being in charge of the festival parade, so making the move to volunteer for another organization wasn’t a difficult transition.

Flowers said that over the years on the fair board, transparency has been a big plus and played a big role as everyone knows where all the finances come from and go out to, which he feels is important in any organization.

When asked to describe the primary duties of the fair board president, Flowers said, “First, it was not about me. The thing that made it work was the people around me.” He described it as a ‘spoke on a wheel’ where all parts have to work together.

Flowers said that although he had to oversee and keep up with what was going on year-round, chairing board meetings and keeping up with all aspects of putting together the fair were primarily things a president needs to do.

The key to my staying so long is that we appointed people in each position and then “get out of their way and let them do their job.”

Flowers, who has worked with a lot of different members and officers, has seen a lot of changes and improvements since the late 1980s, especially the fairgrounds and facilities.

The first thing that came to mind was the old wooden booths set up around the main show ring has now been replaced by vendors who bring in their own mobile booths.

The new building erected on the fairgrounds property has been possibly one of the most visible changes and improvements for the public. There used to be just one building and a pig barn with gravel floors and mud.

That changed in the late 1990s when the fair board, going through the then active Empowerment Zone program, applied for funding and was able to obtain enough funds through that program to design and construct the new 60×100 foot facility that is now much used, not only during fair time, but throughout the year. That improvement cost about $89,000.

The old barn was torn down and the area blacktopped.

Another major change was the new truck track located below the main show ring and grandstands, which Flowers admitted was a controversial move in itself when the change was first made. New bleacher seats have been added and underground electrical wiring allows booths set around the main show ring to access electrical outlets.

A second major grant from the Department of Agriculture was used to make those aforementioned improvements and additions.

Flowers said financially the fair board is in sound condition and “totally self-sufficient” without any local, state of federal tax revenue, other than occasionally grants that the board may receive.

Flowers also recalls back when “fairs” first began in the county, as his father, the late Denver Flowers, had also served in previous years as fair board president.

The first he recalls is when the fair was located behind the old Clinton County High School and consisted basically of a tent, water cooler, homemade food and a horse show. Another year the fair was based at the current VFW ball field location and the third behind the current CCHS girls’ softball field, where the horse show took place in the area where the current high school baseball field is now located.

Flowers believes the most important aspect of the fair and fair board occurred back in the early 1960s, when the board became incorporated and purchased the property in which the current fairgrounds is now located. With incorporation, the fair board became financially self-sustaining, without the need for government type assistance to operate.

The original purchase was for 60 acres from Dr. Floyd B. Hay. Later, 30 acres was sold and still later, another 10 acres — since then about three acres have been bought back making the total acreage at the fairgrounds site around 23-24 acres.

Flowers noted that Clinton County was one of the few fair boards in the area that was incorporated and owned its own property, noting not being incorporated and depending on other entities was becoming a problem for some county fair boards.

The former president said he had a lot of good memories, too many to mention. He did say one was simply working together with people he has served with, remembering working until 3 or 4 a.m. in the mornings on fair week getting things ready for the programs to take place.

“Some years were good and others were a little difficult, especially when it rained all week,” he added. “It (rain) was never a plus but we dealt with it.” He also admitted that over the years, the fair, insofar as its programs “had some flops,” which he said was just a part of putting together an week-long fair program.

Flowers is also proud that basically over the years, the admission prices have relatively, compared to the economy, stayed level. For example, he noted that the gate admission price averaged about $3 and may be now up to around $5. He said back in 1973, the year when everyone remembers the appearance of Porter Waggoner and Dolly Parton, admission was $3 and hadn’t gone up much over the years.

And as far as musical programs, he said that finding and securing such programs was very difficult.

Flowers said he has done a lot of traveling, went a lot of places and met a lot of people over the decades as fair board president, but noted the one thing he wouldn’t miss about the president’s position is the “headaches.” “Sometimes, especially during fair week, I may get up to 50-75 calls a day,” he said.

Flowers also contributes the positive current financial condition of the fair to the annual sale of tractor tickets. He said the board made about $10,000 annually from the sale of tractor tickets, which helps pay for year-round maintenance and operating expenses. With the exception of one year off in seeking a mandated gaming license, tractor ticket sales have now been going on for 22 years and will also be a part of the 2016 Clinton County Fair.

Many of the initial fair board members Flowers first began working with have now passed on and others served and left the board for one reason or another. However, he supplied a list of officers and members who were on the board his first year as member/president, as follows:

Edward Taylor (who Flowers took over for) Vice-President; Charles Futrell, Manager; D.E. Salisbury (Extension Service), Secretary; Barbara Parrigin, Recording Secretary; Mrs. Frank (Mary Ellen) Summers/Janie Gibson, Treasurers.

Directors: James Cooksey, John D. Mullins (Farm Bureau), Mrs. John M. Cross, Joe Lewis, Carl McWhorter, Jim Sampson, Gary Guffey, Charlie Matthews, T.J. Davis, Howard Maupin, Miller Tallent (Vo. Ag.) Dudley P. Hay, Gordon Shearer, Tom Thrasher, Phyllis Melton.

Junior Fair Board: Robert Roeper, Keith Garrett, Michelle Dalton, J.D. Cooksey, Jerry Perdue, Johnny Tallent, Doris Sampson.

Secretaries: Mrs. Frances Sewell (Horse Show Secretary) and Mrs. John M. Poore (Assistant Secretary).

Although no longer president, Flowers is still serving as a fair board member, which he says he will remain on another year or two, but says the fair board is being left in very capable hands. The new officers are Mike Matthews, President; Morgan Pence, Fair Manager, Phyllis Flowers, Secretary and Kelly Guffey, Treasurer.

In closing, Flowers described his 28-year tenure as “being a great ride” and concluded by urging more people to volunteer to do community service. “I want to encourage everyone to volunteer at something, it’s not only important to the community, but rewarding as well.”