[Vision2020] Sandpoint Fair cancels Tight-fittin' Jeans Contest

[Tim Lohrmann]

Visionaries,
       Wranglers/topless car washes/Idaho...hmmmmm...
      TL 


Fair Organizers Pull Tight Jeans Contest
Complaints Lead to Cancellation

By KEITH KINNAIRD
News editor  

     SANDPOINT -- Complaints are causing organizers to
fold a tight-fitting jeans contest during the Bonner
County Fair.
     The contest was set for 6 p.m. on Saturday on the
north lawn of the fairgrounds. It would have been the
first time the fair offered the event.
     "Some ladies in the community think that it's
inappropriate," said fair Manager Rhonda Livingston,
who declined to identify the source of the complaints.
     Livingston said the contest's critics worried it
was exploitative and they did not like the idea of tax
dollars supporting such an event. However, the contest
was sponsored by jeans giant Wrangler, so it was not
funded by taxpayers.
     "We aren't trying to exploit anything. This was a
sponsored event," said Livingston.
     Wrangler, an international clothier, is a Bonner
County Fair supporter. The company donated 50 stick
horses for the children's rodeo.
     Some fair participants and others who work around
horses and livestock customarily wear snug clothes as
a matter of function rather than fashion.
Close-fitting clothes are less apt to snag on the
animals.
     Opponents of the tight-fitting jeans contest took
their complaints to county commissioners, who deferred
to the Bonner County Fair Board. Fair boards in Idaho
are uniquely autonomous compared to other county
boards.
     The board originally approved the contest, but
decided to cancel it and avoid infusing fair
atmosphere with controversy or negativity, said
Livingston, who is also the board's secretary.
     "I don't want people coming to the fair with
negative attitudes. I don't want people to be unhappy
-- the fair is supposed to be fun," Livingston said

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