82nd Otero County Fair and Rodeo includes facility dedication

The 82nd Otero County Fair and Rodeo, Sept. 22-26, had its regular mainstays of animals, booths and a carnival.

This year's fair was a bit different as it included the dedication of the pavilion and pedestrian bridge to the late William. F. Mershon at a ceremony Sept. 25.

"When I think about Bill, I think about stewardship and integrity," 2021 Otero County Fair Board Vice Chairwoman Sheila Coca said. "Bill was committed to selfless service like no other person. He had a way of getting people motivated to take action and be good stewards of the community."

Mershon died on Oct. 22, 2020 at age 81. He was a lifelong resident of Otero County. He served on many boards throughout the county including the Otero County Fair Board for 17 years. 

"When we look at this pavilion, it was only a concept 10 years ago," Coca said. "We all knew Frontier Village had become run down and dangerous, but it was sentimental to so many and often people don't like change and deciding what to do just seemed daunting."

Frontier Village was built in the 1950s and housed the booths at the Otero County Fair. It was demolished in 2015 to make way for William F. Mershon Pavilion that sits now where Frontier Village used to be.

Behind the pavilion is the newly constructed pedestrian bridge that was also dedicated to Mershon.

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The Bill Marshon Pedestrian Bridge was built by a group of New Mexico State University students who came to the Otero County Fairgrounds most weekends for about a year and a half to build the bridge, NMSU Engineering professor Kenny Stevens said.

"Every single weekend (Mershon) was there," Stevens said. 

The fair spanned the weekend, ending with a dance Saturday night and amusement rides Sunday.

Nicole Maxwell can be contacted by email at nmaxwell@alamogordonews.com, by phone at 575-415-6605 or on Twitter at @nicmaxreporter.