As the start of the 2013 DeKalb County Fair quickly approaches, the DeKalb Fair Association is pointing out a few things that are new to the event, and other things that are not returning.  Jeff McMillen of the DeKalb County Fair Association told the Smithville Review that through the hard work of its volunteers, this year's fair will be a memorable event. 
“We're going to have an ATV Rodeo this year,” McMillen explained. “It's something we've never had before that consists of ATVs but it's like the horse rodeos with barrel racing, flag racing, and similar events. There are 11 classes and three events for each class. That will be early on Thursday night, at 5:30 p.m., because there are so many classes.”  McMillen said the event is being hosted by the Smith County ATV Association. 
According to McMillen, this year's fair will see the return of many crowd favorites.  “Monday night will be our Open Rodeo, Tuesday night will be the go-carts, and Wednesday night will be the Flat-Track Motorcycle and ATV Racing.  We're still having the Super Tractor and Truck Pull on Saturday night, and we're bringing back the ATV Mini Rod Outlaw Tractor Pull on Friday night, which were small tractors and local ATVs. We did eliminate the two-wheel-drive classes because last year they could not pull the sled.  It will be limited to just four-wheel-drives.”
One crowd favorite that has seen some problems over the past few years will not be a part of the fair this year.  “We're not doing the demolition derby this year,” McMillen said. “We've had bad luck for the last three years when we've said we were going to have it and the people putting it on did not show up with the cars that they said they would. We didn't feel it was fair to the people to advertise that we were having something that we weren't going to have.”
McMillen said a new competition to this year's fair is the Cornhole Tournament. Cornhole is a game in which players take turns throwing bags of corn at a raised platform with a hole in the far end. The game has been compared to horseshoes and has become very popular with tailgaters and families all around the country.
“We're also having a Homemade Ice-Cream-Making contest on Monday, July 22,” McMillen told the Review. Categories are for crank and electric, and recipes must be printed on the back of an index card. “We're doing several small little things this year that we haven't had in the past.” 
Fair officials say that as always there will be live music, dancing, and even Karaoke performed at the Memory Lane Stage, while at the Lion's Club Pavilion the pageants, Vintage Fashion Show, and the very popular DeKalb Idol will return to the stage. 
The exhibits featuring perishable and nonperishable items will again be displayed this year with some participants needing to enter their items early. “The nonperishable items, that go into the Sandlin Building, they start taking those items on Saturday, July 13, from 10 a.m. until 2 p.m.” McMillen said. “The perishable items go in on Saturday, July 20, from 10 a.m. until 2 p.m.”
McMillen said the popular money giveaway will also return this year, but the prizes will be split, with two winners each night. “The give-away will be held at 9:30 p.m. each night, except on Friday night when it will be at 10 p.m. because of DeKalb Idol being held.  It takes a little more time for that show to end.  We're giving away two $500 winners each night. We'll draw three tickets and from those three tickets hopefully, we'll have two winners each night. You have to be present to win and that will be at the Lion's Pavilion only. So, if you have a ticket and you want to win, you need to make sure you're at the Lion's Pavilion at 9:30 p.m. Tickets must be presented within three minutes of the announcement of the winning numbers.”
When asked about the future of the DeKalb County Fair, McMillen said the future looks bright.  He said the fair hopes to build a new barn on the grounds soon, but he said what the fair really needs is volunteers, "We've got a new guy, Matt Boss, and he's young and has a lot of energy,” he explained. “He's come up with a lot of ideas and things he's involved with. He's involved with the cornhole tournament and the ice-cream-making. He just graduated high school here and he's very energetic. We're tickled to death to have him.
“We're looking for young people that want to be involved in the fair,” McMillen continued. “We need volunteers like Matt because that's who get things done. A lot of us have been there a long time and we don't want things to get stale with our ideas, we want new ideas and it takes new people sometimes to come up with new ideas. We honor anyone who wants to be a part of what we've got going on.” 
The DeKalb County Fair starts Monday, July 22, and runs through Saturday, July 27.