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Jaycees hope to revive beer tent at Perth Fair By Gena Gibson Without revenues from the beer tent at last year’s Perth Fair, the Perth Jaycees had to cancel most of their projects for the year, from bursaries to helping the local youth centre and the United Way.Long-time Jaycees member Stephen Blair said the Jaycees in Perth have long raised money, in particular through the beer tent, to fund such projects. In other communities, the Jaycees, whose name stems from Junior Chamber of Commerce, simply develop young entrepreneurs to become good businesspeople. "There are many chapters across Canada that don’t raise any money," Blair said. "We feel there is a connection between being good community and business leaders and giving back to the community." Despite the noble goals, the beer tent had become difficult to manage during the fair on Labour Day weekend. It was the busiest weekend of the year for the Perth Police Service, as officers were regularly called out to drunken fights and disturbances. Blair said the Jaycees had always hired off-duty police officers to keep the beer-tent patrons under control. Last year, they decided it was time to hire a security company to handle any issues that might arise, in addition to the off-duty officers. "When it came down to booking security, there were no security teams or firms available to help us," Blair admitted. He said before the fair last year that the lack of security made it difficult to run the beer tent within the requirements of the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario. This year, the Jaycees have already hired a security firm, and now plan to meet with the local liquor inspector to go over the plan and make sure it meets the commission’s requirements. Blair said hiring a security firm was just one of the changes the Jaycees planned to make with regard to the beer tent. They wanted to change fencing, layout and emergency exits to fit better with the fairgrounds. The Jaycees brought a request to Perth town council recently, asking that it declare the Perth Fair a community festival. That way, it will cost less for a liquor licence, because the Jaycees can buy a three-day licence for $75 rather than one for each day. At its June 10 committee-of-the-whole meeting, council tentatively agreed to declare the fair a community festival from Friday, Aug. 29 to Monday, Sept. 1, as long as it receives written approval from Perth Police Chief Claude Brett and Perth Fire Chief Steve Fournier. Brett said a meeting is in the process of being set up with the liquor inspector, Jaycees representatives, him and Fournier. He said there are usually on- and off-duty police officers at the beer tent and the fairgrounds during the fair, so he wasn’t sure how a security company would improve the situation. "There have definitely been some enforcement issues," Brett admitted. "I think what we’re after here is to determine a strategy that addresses public safety." Fair board president Andrew Allan said attendance was down on fair nights last year, probably due to the lack of a beer tent. "We had perfect weather last year and not overly great attendance," he said. He added that the Jaycees had asked permission to have a beer tent at the fair, and the board agreed to the request, "but we don’t want anything getting out of control." "We’re a family fair, and we want to keep it safe," Allan said.
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