LOWELL, Mich. — Leaders are gearing up as the Kent County Youth Fair is bound for a new home at the Grand Agricultural Center of West Michigan.
The 140-acre space, formerly a golf course, was first purchased by the Kent County Youth Agricultural Association in 2018. But the dream of a bigger space, Association leadership said, has been decades in the making.
"Since then, after the purchase, we had our 'Phase Two,' which was to fundraise to get the fair here," KCYAA Executive Director Morgan Doyle said. "We were able to then utilize grants from local community foundations, including the local community foundation, the Grand Rapids Community Foundation, philanthropists from the area as well as get grants from the federal government and corporate donors as well."
However, it won't just be those at the county fair taking part. Doyle said the space is eventually planning to host year-round activity.
"We are trying not to limit ourselves just for one area, but be able to expand and grow and meet the needs of all of the youth as well as other associations out there for agriculture," Doyle said.
The highly-anticipated project, decades in the making, Doyle said has been met with overwhelming support — so much so that some areas for the fair at the end of July are already scheduled over-capacity.
"[People] are very excited," Doyle said. "They want to know, 'How can we help? How can we help grow this vision that you see? We see it now that you have started the process, we want to be a part of it.'"
But it's the entire community, she said, that can hope to benefit from having one of only three such sites in the state to offer similar levels of year-round activity.
"They can also benefit from all the agritourism that comes here," Doyle said. "Whether it be the businesses around, people filling up their generators with gas, going to the local restaurants, staying at a hotel nearby, buying from the stores nearby for feed or stuff, any products that they might need for the shows that are going to be purchasing a lot locally, and that will help grow our local economy."
With the expanded space offering expanded opportunities like year-round exhibitions, agricultural education, community spaces and even rodeos, leaders look forward to bringing new experiences and learning to the area and to its young generations.
"I think the character they develop through programs that we are trying to build here is very important for the future of our area and region as well as the country — getting people to grow up and be involved in so many different things that it opens their eyes to what's out there," Doyle said.
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