Federation News
Pasco County Fair Manager Clark Converse wins Heritage Award Clark served approximately 10 years on the Florida Federation of Fairs
Board of Directors. He has attended 28 Annual meetings of the Federa- tion, 11 of the IAFE and numerous FFF summer workshops. He has held the FFF offices of Secretary/Treasurer, 2nd Vice President, and Pres- ident. He skipped 1st Vice President when there was a vacancy that sent him to the Presidency. His committee chairs are numerous also, working on Audit/Budget, Convention Program, Personnel, Showcase, Site Selec- tion, Summer Workshop, Trade Show, Traveling Exhibits and Nominat- ing, as well as moderating numerous round table sessions, emceeing Showcases, and assisting with the auction. He attended the Spring Man- agement Conference in Calgary, Canada and the Zone 2 meeting in Sara- sota at which he moderated a table topic. He has attended all of the Zone 2 business meetings held during the annual FFF convention. He was also a member of the SLA and IISA in the early 1980’s. Clark once worked in another aspect of the Fair business. In 1964 he
started working in a bushel basket “joint” for the summer and in 1973 began a 12 year career as a ride operator, ride supervisor, ride owner, and show electrician, mostly for Bluegrass Shows and Cumberland Val- ley Shows.
the Pasco County Fair Board, serving on numerous committees.
he was elected General Manager, which is a vol-
In 1985 he settled in Dade City and began a 32 year stint on In 1998
serve on the Board of Directors, sat on the execu- tive committee, and was chair of the annual fair planning committee (which also coordinates the annual 4th of July festivities, “Sparklebration”). In 2013, he was asked if he would be willing to step back into the position of General Manager and was re-elected to the position which he still holds. In 2003 he assumed a leadership role in the
“Pasco Bug Jam” (the 2nd largest Volkswagen show and swap meet in the U.S.), which so far has raised over $150,000.00 for All Children’s Hospital. He continues to work on this event. Clark has also served Pasco County as Coastal Cleanup coordinator (3 years), United Way of Pasco County Board of Directors (2 years), Pasco County Child Watch (co-founder), Charlie Daniels/Angelus House bene- fit concert committee (6 years), Greater Dade City Chamber of Com- merce Board of Directors (2 years), and is a 2001 graduate of Leadership Pasco. When he has time for hobbies, he rides horses and raises cattle. Clark & Renee have four children: Sons: Chris (46), Shawn (35), and
unteer position, overseeing all operations of the fairgrounds year round, a position he was re-elected to for 10 consecutive years until he stepped down in 2008. He continued to
Heritage Award winner with Carol Porter of Haas and Wilkerson.
daughters: Jennifer (deceased) and Jessica (32). They also have six grandchildren: Breanne (25), Johnathan (21), Jacob (19), Tihler (18), Emma (7) and Nora (9mo). Clark & Renee have owned and operated their own tree care business since 2002 and Renee has worked for Pasco County Government for 34 years. They attend Sacred Heart Catholic Church in St. Joseph and enjoy attending and supporting community events. According to Clark “I love the fair industry and, as long as I am able, I will be honored to do whatever is asked of me to help keep it strong”.
Left to right: Marla Calico, IAFE President; John Sykes, IAFE Chairman; and
Clark Converse, Heritage Award Winner. Getting to Know Tasha Hyder—Clay County
Hello! I'm Tasha Hyder, the new man- ager at the Clay County Agricultural Fair located in Green Cove Springs, Florida. I am the lucky individual to follow in the footsteps of the great Pete Sutton, who I am sure the majority of you know and had the pleasure of meet- ing. After ten years of establishing high
organizational standards, implementing professional policies, bringing programs
great and leaving a legacy that
reaches from coast to coast, Pete decid- ed to retire in December 2015. Pete was very helpful with my transition and I have the upmost respect for him. We miss seeing Pete daily, but we are grate- ful that he is just down the road on his new tractor and will continue to help as a volunteer.
12 I'm excited to be here as the new manager of the Clay County Fair. I
want to bring a new perspective on the traditions of our great fair. We have such a solid base at the Clay County Fair and I am looking
forward to assisting in bringing freshness to our traditional culture. Agriculture has been a very important part of my life; as I was raised on a horse farm in a small town in Tennessee. I have many years of event planning experience and I look forward to bringing those experi- ences to our fair. It has been a pleasure to meet so many nice people already and I look forward to meeting each one of you in the future. You've made me feel welcome and I feel blessed to be a part of the Florida Federation of Fairs family. One of my greatest memories as a child was attending our Appala-
chian County Fair; as a matter of fact I still go home for it every year, they have the coolest duck pond in the state! I now get to help make those memories for children in our area and that is one of the greatest feelings to experience. The county fair is an American tradition and we have to preserve that heritage. I don't want the kids of today to miss out on what will soon become some of their greatest memories. I would like to invite each of you to visit our fair March 31- April 9, 2016. We’re Proud of our fair and I hope to see you there.
FAIRCRACKER-SPRING 2016
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