St. Louis County Fair & Air Show

The success of this past summer’s St. Louis County Fair & Air Show was evidenced in last week’s donation of $250,000 to the Children’s Miracle Network. The Fair has become, during its 16 year history, the premier Labor Day event in the region. Business development in and around Spirit of St. Louis Airport in Chesterfield, however, has reduced the ability of the venue to adequately accommodate visitors. Accordingly, after careful review and discussion, the Board of Directors of the County Fair & Air Show announced today that 2007 was the last year for the event.

“This was not an easy decision. It basically came down to the fact that the Fair is losing parking space to the new business development,” stated Dick Hrabko, Fair President Emeritus. “To attempt to put on a world class air show under these conditions would not be fair to the public.”

“The St. Louis County Fair & Air Show has been a success from the beginning thanks to the vision of my predecessor as County Executive, the late Buzz Westfall, and the ongoing support of the St. Louis business community,” said St. Louis County Executive Charlie A. Dooley.

For 16 years the St. Louis County Fair & Air Show was a Labor Day Weekend tradition for hundreds of thousands of people from across the region. Each year the Fair provided a great family friendly atmosphere with world class air shows, exciting interactive exhibits, giant midways, spectacular fireworks and main stage entertainment.

None of this would have been possible without the outstanding support from generous sponsors including Anheuser Busch, The Boeing Company (McDonnell Douglas prior to 1997) plus the thousands of volunteers who gave their time and efforts to make the Fair a success.

This year’s donation of $250,000 to Children’s Miracle Network of Greater St. Louis brings total contributions to the charity, since the inception of the Fair in 1992, to $2-million. This year the Fair is also donating $100,000 to Wings of Hope for their ongoing medical relief and transportation program. Additionally, dozens of schools, church groups and other charitable organizations have benefited from working at the Fair and have raised hundreds of thousands of dollars for their organizations.