Honored for their role in working at the fairgrounds were (left) Exton Dosier and Russell Sheets (right). In the center is Oscar "Doc" Evans, who helped present the plaque.

Concession plaque dedicated to Sheets, Dosier, other volunteers

About 60 well-wishers turned out to celebrate the dedication of the Lions Club concession stand at the Justice Carlisle Higgins Agricultural Fairgrounds. The stand was dedicated to Lions Club members Exton Dosier and Russell Sheets and all of the volunteers who have worked at the fairgrounds. Oscar "Doc" Evans, one of the event's organizers, said he was pleased with the turnout.

"We were real happy with the number of people that came out for the presentation," Evans said. "It turned out to be a really nice day for it and everyone had a good time. "As to why the two men were selected for the honor, Evans offered a brief mini-history of the fairgrounds, which he also echoed in his speech to the crowd on Sunday. He said the fairgrounds and surrounding property, a total of 84. 7 acres, were donated to the county by the heirs of Carlisle Higgins. "This was to be developed into a recreational grounds for the people of Alleghany County," Evans said. He said the first project on the property was the Emerson Black Exhibition Building. "There were some events held after this, like tug of war, calf shows and cow patty bingo," Evans said. "When they got the Black Building completed, things just sort of slowed down. Exton came to the Lions Club meeting and said he would get things moving again if the Sparta Lions Club would back him, which we did. When he did that, Russel joined in with him and raised most of the money while Exton gathered up volunteers. "At that time we were looking for a place to hold our horse show," Evans noted.

Get the rest of this article in this week's issue of the Alleghany News! Back