Community

Volunteers Help Tyler County Fair Celebrate Renovated Show Barn

The 60th annual Tyler County Fair kicked off this week with a new look to its show barn.

Antero Resources and Antero Midstream employee volunteers and contractors, along with representatives from the Tyler County Fair Association, cut the ribbon to unveil the newly renovated Antero Show Barn. The facility will be the home of the 4-H/Future Farmers of America Market Animal Show & Sell.

"This was an especially exciting project for us, as children of the Antero family -- as well as close community and business partners -- are very involved with the 4-H and TCFA organizations," said Antero Regional Senior Vice President Kevin Ellis.

Antero volunteers worked more than 1,000 hours in June to renovate the facility, bringing the total project value to $89,000. The Antero Show Barn will be used by area 4-H and FFA students, as well as programming hosted by the Fair Association.

Among the upgrades are two barns at 20,000 square feet, 25 repaired animal gats and three newly constructed gates and two service panels, one light pole, wire, 63 lights and 20 receptacles installed. Volunteers used 27 gallons of paint and 23 gallons of stain, 80 tons of gravel and 20 cubic yards of sawdust, plus 20 sheets of tin and trim for the barn front. They painted 450 linear feet of barn siding, plus seating, railing and gates throughout.

Safety improvements and related modernization repairs included a full retrofit of the barn's lighting and electrical distribution system, fresh paint and stain for the show benches, barn exterior, fencing and steps as well as a refaced barn front with new tin and trim. Volunteers also constructed a new fencing and gate system for animals.

"This is a very special start to the 60th annual Tyler County Fair, and the barn's renewed look is a welcomed upgrade that will be enjoyed by all, especially our next generation of agriculture leaders," said Tad Drill, president of the Tyler County Fair Association. "We appreciate Antero's partnership in making these important improvements as well as the company's ongoing support for 4-H and FFA."

"We're grateful to work and invest across Tyler County, and the broader region, so helping the Fair Association and creating opportunities for young kids in the agriculture community is a high priority for our employees," commented Jeremy Jones, Antero vice president of midstream operations.

Antero thanked contract partners Applied Construction Solutions, Smith Excavation Inc. and CED Mosebach for their time and support.