Michigan and Nevada seem to be linked in some not-so-good ways.
High unemployment rates, high home foreclosure rates, and declining housing prices.
And now... add the lack of a State Fair to that list.
In this age of austerity, Nevada has decided to cut its State Fair. Michigan cut its Fair back in 2009.
The Associated Press reports Nevada and Michigan are the only two states without a State Fair.
From the AP:
The board of directors for the Nevada State Fair says there won't be one this summer. Board members say budget shortfalls leave them no choice but to bring an end to the fair for the first time in 136 years. Executive director Rich Crombie said in a statement Wednesday that a last-ditch fundraising effort had produced only a fraction of the estimated $250,000 needed to keep the fair from folding up its tent. It means Nevada will join Michigan as the only states in the nation without state fairs. Crombie says they are debt but don't intend to file bankruptcy. He says the hope is to continue to raise money for another state fair in the years ahead. The first Nevada fair was held in 1874.
The Michigan State Fair, said to be the country's oldest, was closed in 2009 because of declining attendance and budget shortfalls.
Michigan Radio's "Picture Project" has some fantastic images of Michigan's now defunct State Fair.
