Edmonson County Lions Club Dinner
Jay Hall, Executive Director, Office of Agricultural Marketing. PHOTO | Lynn Bledsoe
Lynn Bledsoe
Gimlet Managing Editor
January 22, 2026- The Edmonson County Lions Club held a sponsorship dinner and awards presentation last Thursday.
The progress the Lions Club has made in being able to hold a first-class county fair has been unbelievable. Back in 2020, when COVID hit, and everything shut down, the fair was very much missed. In 2021, the fair was allowed again, but it was a struggle. The Fair Board did not have the funds needed to contract with a carnival, and it looked like the tradition might have died away. Julia Wilson sounded the whistle for community members to pull together and provide something fun for the kids that year. The one-day affair had bounce houses, hayrides, games, and the barn displays for the kids after the traditional school day parade.
Jimmy Duvall, Donnie Turley, Scottie Woodcock and Hank Vincent. PHOTO | Lynn Bledsoe
This led to the Lions Club setting their jaw and becoming determined to reignite the fire that is the heart of Edmonson County. New members joined, and old members stepped up to work together. Many plans were made for the fairgrounds for 2022, but still Edmonson County was missing the lights and sounds of a carnival. 2023 saw the hard work pay off as the Fair Board secured a new carnival to come to Edmonson County.
Paradise Amusements agreed to come to Edmonson County if the Lions Club could agree to move the traditional fair dates. There was no choice, and a quick “Yes, we can” was not quite all it took. The cost would be $15,000 up front and half the gate. The Lions Club started to look for solutions to the funding problem. That’s when sponsorships began. The money came together, and things kept rolling along. The magic of the fair for Edmonson County’s kids came back and brought with it a sense of pride for the best fair around.
Last year, the Edmonson County Lions Club Fair Board was awarded a $100,000 grant. The money was used to repair the fair barn. The barn needed more than what was thought, but with lots of donated time and materials, plus the $100,000, the barn was rebuilt.
Corey Culbreath, Donnie Turley, Jay Hall, Hank Vincent and Jimmy Duvall. PHOTO | Lynn Bledsoe
Jimmy Duvall introduced Scottie Woodcock and spoke about the Edmonson County Lions Club being the largest chartered in-club at that time. Scottie was one of the founding members of the Edmonson County Lions Club in 1955. He was honored with a plaque for all his years of service. Scottie spoke about how The Lions Club wanted to help the community, so they worked on infrastructure by bringing a water system to Brownsville, purchasing the first fire truck in the county in 1960, and first volunteer fire department. They also worked to bring a factory to Brownsville, which began the industrial committee. After the grant money promised fell through, they went to the citizens of Edmonson County to pledge money that helped to bring the factory to Brownsville.
The night had many speeches and a few tears, but more laughter and more pride in Edmonson County than I have seen in many years. Marketing Executive Director, Office of Agricultural Marketing, presented the check that the Lions Club was awarded. Hall said that Edmonson County’s grant application was the best of the bunch.
Cory Culbreath said it best when he said many people are talking about the Edmonson County fair, and the phrase repeated again and again is “They are back!”
