Troy Fair to hold cow pie bingo
Review Photo/ERIC HRIN Unveiling plans for the Troy Fair's cow pie bingo this week are, left to right, Troy Fair and State Fair Queen Casey Hall; Hannah Busch, first queen alternate; Kristen Zimmer, second queen alternate; and Bonnie Borek, Troy Fair secretary.
TROY - Bonnie Borek is pinning her hopes on a cow.
Facing an elimination of state funding, Borek and the Troy Fair are hoping that a cow pie bingo will help to make up the loss.
Funding cuts proposed by Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell would mean the Troy Fair would lose its state funding, which is more than $28,000, according to the governor's office.
According to Gary Tuma, press secretary for the governor's office, there was $2 million in the current budget for fairs around the state, but the governor has proposed reducing that to zero for the new fiscal year of 2010-11 that begins on July 1. He said the reduction for the Troy Fair would be $28,477.
This week at Alparon Park, Borek, the Troy Fair secretary, unveiled the cow pie bingo plans along with Troy Fair and State Fair Queen Casey Hall and the fair queen alternates, Hannah Busch and Kristen Zimmer.
The fair is hoping to sell 300 numbers for the cow pie bingo at $10 per number for the bingo, to be held from 4 to 6 p.m. July 30 at the fairgrounds. The prize payout is $599, according to a bingo entry form.
The person with the number with the biggest cow pie landing on it will win. If there is no cow pie, then all the numbers will be put in a drawing and the number pulled will be the winning one.
"There is no fair funding in the budget for any fair in Pennsylvania, and our idea with the cow-pie bingo is to make our (special events) department self-sufficient, and if we can sell all 300 numbers, we'll have a good start toward that," Borek said.
She was critical of the state's decision regarding the fair funding, saying it was "terrible."
"In Pennsylvania, agriculture is number one, and I think the governor has forgotten, and he thinks that his food is grown on the blacktop, is what I think he thinks," she continued.
The numbers for the bingo can be purchased at Judson's Inc.; Murray's General Store, Columbia Crossroads; MRJ's Sundae Time in Troy; Jamie Lou's Gourmet Restaurant; Zimmer's Garage, Canton; Woody's Country Store, Gillett; Judy's Country Store, Bentley Creek; or by sending a self-addressed stamped envelope with $10 to Bonnie Borek, c/o cow pie bingo, RR2, Box 26A, Columbia Crossroads, PA 16914. For more information, call (570) 297-8971.
In explaining the reasons for the proposed cuts, Tuma issued this statement: "Last year the state had to close a $3.2 billion revenue gap, and this year the state's revenues are $1.2 billion below (the) official estimate because of the recessionary economy."
"The governor has been forced to make numerous budget cuts that he would prefer not to have made. Going into this year, of the more than 600 line items in the state budget, 142 line items were completely eliminated and more than 400 others had their dollar amounts reduced."
"The state is required by the Constitution to have a balanced budget, so with the reluctance on the part of the public and the legislature to accept tax increases, budget cuts are the only alternative to deal with a potential budget deficit of this size."
Eric Hrin can be reached at (570) 297-5251; e-mail: reviewtroy@thedailyreview.com.
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