Weltikol Remembers Her Years As Fair Manager

Kris Weltikol served as manager of the Richland County Fair and Rodeo from January 1990 through May 2006 and made memories that will last a lifetime.

She is justifiably proud of all the major improvements which occurred during her watch. City water was brought in, all the food booths were updated, as were the horse motel and the camping area. The improvement most appreciated by fair staff and public alike was the new fair office and year round bathrooms.

The Richland County Fair and Rodeo brings in big name entertainment every year, and Weltikol enjoyed them all. “They were all wonderful people and their managers were super nice,” she said. Many of the entertainers wandered through the community in cognito and always came back with compliments on Richland County and how friendly the people were. The ‘in cognito’ part almost got Weltikol in trouble more than once. She saw people in casual clothing wandering about a secure area of the fairgrounds and was about to have them removed when fortunately, her staff said “STOP, that’s your star!”

She also has fond memories of the Free Entertainment groups who came. A lot of them camped on the fairgrounds and appreciated the nice quiet area. The Bulla Family in particular stands out. Their kids made friends with the 4-H kids who were also camped on the grounds. They have kept in touch with many of them. For many years, the family would stop and say hello if they were coming through the area. Sometimes they stayed overnight, sometimes not, but they always stopped.

The Carnival people Weltikol worked with were also terrific. One year when the stage hands didn’t show up, the carnival people, along with 4-Hers, stepped in and did all the set up, then returned to tear down after the show was over. “That’s the good part of the fair,” Weltikol commented. “People don’t realize that when the fair is on, it’s its own little community. If one leg starts to slip, the other legs come in and pick it up.”

The fair board is a true working board and Weltikol appreciated every one of them. “They donate a lot of time all year long and we work them like slaves during the fair,” she said. “Everyone who served with me was truly wonderful.”

Weltikol found the Richland County Commissioners always accommodating, as well as all the other county departments who help with the fair. She sincerely appreciated the assistance of the Treasurer’s office, the Clerk & Recorders office, Public Health department, Sheriff’s department, Road department and of course the fire department and ambulance service.

She feels fortunate that the fire department was never needed during her tenure. She did have one incident, however that was scary at the time but still makes her laugh. Chris Bengochea, now a world class pianist and opera singer, was superintendent of the commercial building one year. There were two piano vendors there, so Bengochea would go from one to the other and play and sing. Weltikol was in the fair office and heard “fire” over her radio. She grabbed a fire extinguisher off the wall, ran out and yelled at fireman Terry Verhasselt and 2 or 3 other firemen who also grabbed fire extinguishers and headed to the commercial building. When they arrived, everyone was clapping and enjoying themselves as Bengochea was singing “Great Balls of Fire”. Someone was pressing the talk button on Bengochea’s radio every time he sang “fire”. They were all relieved and amused but Weltikol did advise Bengochea to put his radio where no one else could reach it.

Weltikol worked with hundreds of individuals during her time as Fair manager. Her office staff was great and she hesitated to mention any names because she didn’t want to leave anyone out. Grounds people were terrific as well, including Butch Renders, Karsten Hall, George Umback and Sherry Sorenson. Jerry Tippet was the fair electrician, always reliable, but also good for a few pranks. “They saw me through the good times and the not so good times,” Weltikol said. There were also the thousands of volunteers who make the fair what it is every year. “The community support is phenomenal,” she said.

The pride and joy of the Richland County Fair and Rodeo is the community seed pictures according to Weltikol. She recalled an incident where she encountered Bill Chiesa, Billings Metra Park manager at the Fair convention. “He showed me photos of all the brand new buildings that Metra Park had put in. And they were beautiful. I told him that if we had $6 million, we could do that too. But, can you do this? And I showed him photos of our seed pictures. He hung his head.” Those seed pictures hang in various locations in Sidney and beyond, and have been featured in a program on PBS.

“Other fairs are jealous of the community involvement we have here,” Weltikol said. “From all the seed pictures and the entries we’ve been known to have, to everyone who helps out at the fair, or just comes and enjoys it. And that tradition continues today.”