COUNTY BOOTH AT THE N.C. STATE FAIR

• Click here for a fairgrounds map showing the NCACC booth location.
• Click here to visit the official N.C. State Fair Web site.

The North Carolina State Fair might not seem like the ideal place to learn about county government, but the NCACC staff team charged with implementing the strategic goal "to inform and educate the public and media about county government" thinks otherwise.

Since 2006, the Association has sponsored a booth on county government at the N.C. State Fair, which is held every October at the State Fairgrounds in Raleigh. This year's fair will be held Oct. 15-25.

At the booth, Association staff has teamed with commissioners and county staff from around the state to disseminate information about services provided by county governments. During the first two years, county staff from as far away as Ashe and McDowell counties to the west and New Hanover County to the east have manned the booth.

EMS personnel, county commissioners, county managers, tax collectors and others have all spent time in the booth to discuss their roles and responsibilities with fairgoers. Thousands of citizens from around the state have been educated about county government services and have played the "County Match Game" developed by the Association's Information Technology staff. The game challenges contestants to match county names with their location on a state map that is blank except for county border lines. In two years, only one person has correctly identified the location of all 100 counties.