Wednesday, November 26, 2008

Group meets to found expo

Julia M. Dendinger News-Bulletin Staff Writer; jdendinger@news-bulletin.com

There's a new expo in town. A group of a dozen or so people has decided to form the Valencia County Community Expo to provide a venue for 4-H and FFA youth to show livestock and indoor exhibits, splitting away from the Valencia County Fair.

A group of 4-H and FFA representatives sat down Monday evening to try and hammer out some of the complicated details of putting on their expo in preparation for a public input meeting on Dec. 1.

Items to be presented at the Dec. 1 meeting are a draft of the organization's by-laws, the formation of 10 committees and a slate of first-term executive officers.

Once the by-laws are established, the expo will file incorporation paperwork with the New Mexico Public Regulations Commissioner as a 501c3 nonprofit and request federal nonprofit status.

The committees the group is seeking volunteers and chairs for are 4-H and FFA indoor exhibits and displays, open indoor and horticulture exhibits, commercial vendors, entertainment, junior livestock activities, dog show, horse show, land and facilities and operations and management, awards and fundraising, communications, marketing and expo book.

The group also appointed its first set of executive officers, Eileen Cosper, president; Amanda Osther, vice president; Jeanne Kimball, secretary; and Richard Herrera, treasurer.

The slate of four officers will be presented to the attendees of the Dec. 1 meeting. If the officers are approved by a majority vote, they will serve until expo's first regular election. If they are not approved, the floor will be opened to nominations and officers will be voted in at that time.

With the exception of the president, the executive officers will have voting power in the organization, along with the 10 chairpeople of the committees and four youth representatives, one from 4-H/extension and one from each high school FFA chapter. The three extension agents and the FFA advisors will be ex-officio, non-voting members of the expo team.

The December meeting will also explore a venue for the expo. During their meeting, the idea of holding it at the Bosque Farms Rodeo Arena was broached but some had reservations about availability of water to properly wash the livestock.

Herrera said he felt the group should approach the fair board about renting the county fair grounds for the expo. "If we do, it should be the entire grounds - ditch to ditch," he said. "All they have to do is unlock the gate and let us in."

The fairgrounds in Albuquerque were also discussed but were seen as being prohibitively expensive and too far out of the community. "Not only are we taking people out of the community, but I know just the pig barn can run almost $1,000 a day," Osther said.

Cosper is hoping that people both in and out of the 4-H and FFA communities will attend the December meeting to offer input on not only a possible site, but on what they would like to see at the expo.

"If you are interested in being on one of the committees or just want to let us know what you would like to see at the expo, come out and tell us," Cosper said.

The Dec. 1 meeting will begin at 7 p.m. in the student community center at the University of New Mexico-Valencia Campus.

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