The Rio Linda Country Faire planning committee issued their final report on December 21st, and the news is all good. The event generated a profit of $2,011.45 for the RLE Foundation for the Future. On December 17th, the Foundation approved unanimously to appropriate $1000 in start-up costs for the 2014 Country Faire, planned tentatively for September 13th.
Congratulations to all involved. This is a great event for Rio Linda and Elverta, and recalls the carnivals we had in the mid-80’s.
The complete final report follows.
Planning Committee – Final Report
Walk with the dreamers, the believers, the courageous, the cheerful, the planners, the doers, the successful people with
their head in the clouds and their feet on the ground. Let their spirit ignite a fire within you to leave this world better
than when you found it. – Wilferd Peterson
Summary
A group of citizens came forward to coordinate the Rio Linda Communities’ Centennial in 2012. The events were such a
huge success at many levels that the members of the committee, with encouragement from the community, launched a
follow up event. The Rio Linda Elverta Country Faire 2013 is the result of these efforts. The desire of the committee was
to make this an annual event. We felt the best chances for this faire to be a success for years to come would be to work
with an institution committed to the same goals.
In late May 2013, the Boards of the Rio Linda Elverta Recreation and Park District (RLERPD) and the Foundation for the
Future (FFF) voted to approve sponsorship of the Rio Linda Elverta Country Faire. The RLERPD Board approved allowing
the group to utilize the District’s facilities including the Community Center, Community Park, Depot Park and the Depot
building to host the Rio Linda Elverta Country Faire. The negotiations included the Committee agreeing to pay a $400
rental fee and providing minimal impact/workload for District Staff. Additionally, the Foundation for the Future agreed
to allow the Rio Linda Elverta Country Faire to run as a program under their 501(c)3 non‐profit organization to allow for
potentially tax‐deductible donations. It was also agreed that if there was any funding left after all Country Faire
expenses those net proceeds would be left for the Foundation Board to use as they saw fit, with a request from the
Committee that they would hope a portion would be set aside as seed money for future Country Faire events.
Planning began in early June with the first official planning committee meeting being held on June 4, 2013. With an
event date of September 14, 2013 this left just over 3 months to fund and organize the event. While hundreds of
people were notified about each planning meeting there quickly emerged a core group of citizens who would take on
the bulk of effort to coordinate the desired activities. These people were deemed “Area Coordinators” and were
responsible for the funding, planning and execution of their individual area with guidance from the larger committee.
Below is a list of the Area Coordinators.
Planning meetings continued every two weeks throughout June, July and August and shifted to weekly beginning in late
August right up to the week of the event. Notes were taken at each meeting by Audrey Grissom and after review and
acceptances by the committee, were submitted to then RLERPD District Administrator, Wayne Lowery.
Saturday, September 14th arrived quickly and by all accounts the Rio Linda Elverta Country Faire was a smashing success.
The RLE Country Faire was also a great success for the community. These facts were unofficially reported to members of
the planning committee.
Public Relations
By the end of July the RLE Country Faire event was posted on the internet community calendars for local media outlets
including KCRA 3, Capital Public Radio, KFBK, CBS 13, CW 31, Fox 40 and News 10. Countless articles were printed in the
Rio Linda Elverta News and the North Country News. Large billboards and sponsor banners were placed throughout
town and through the efforts of the committee, and the community, word spread.
In addition to the wonderful local press coverage our small town event caught the attention of some big time news
outlets. The Peace Garden dedication was covered by Univision Channel 19 and Neda Iranpour of KOVR Channel 13/31
did a live morning cast on Good Day Sacramento with the Longhorn Steer to kick off the event.
Univision Link: http://univisionsacramento.univision.com/noticias/local/videos‐de‐local/video/2013‐09‐14/desean‐
tranquilidad‐comunidad
CBS GoodDay Sacramento Link: http://sacramento.cbslocal.com/video/9307499‐riding‐a‐steer‐at‐a‐fair/
Conclusion
On behalf of the committee and the community I would like to thank both the Park District and the Foundation for the
Future for their belief and support of the RLE Country Faire. I also thank the many devoted people who helped to make
this a triumphant success. Their spirit of volunteerism is an inspiration to us all. Finally, we could not have done it
without the generous outpouring of donations and in‐kind support from so many inside our community.
We upheld our commitment to have minimal impact on staff and provide an opportunity to showcase the Park District
and the services they provide. We kept true to our word of performing an event within our budget and astonishingly we
did make a profit. The results surely exceeded expectations. We believe we have the framework and team to continue
this tradition and we look forward to continued enthusiastic support from the District, the Foundation, organizations,
and the community at large. The power of many!
Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts.
– Winston Churchill
Respectfully submitted,
Mike Grandinetti
Facilitator, RLE Country Faire Committee 2013
