Famous Mother Lode Fairgrounds becomes shelter for Rim Fire

The Mother Lode Fairgrounds in Sonora was a busy place last month. The annual rural fair – dating back to 1889 – drew many thousands of visitors to enjoy the local flavor of arts, crafts, food, beverages, live music, carnival rides and livestock.

Now the Fairgrounds have been turned into a temporary Red Cross Shelter for evacuees of the Rim Fire – as it burns more than 130,000 acres at a cost of more than $12 million.

“We are here to help the community get through this,” the Fair’s Facebook page said. A sign at the shelter read: “We left a light on for you.”

More than 200 people had checked into the temporary Red Cross shelter at the Fairgrounds, officials said.

The Mother Lode Fair’s history can be traced back to 1889 as Tuolumne County Fair & Horse Show, and since 1938 it has held its current name.

The Mother Lode Fair generates an estimated more than $10 million in spending activity, benefiting the local economy and creating a ripple effect of economic benefit for the state, according to a state report.

In 2009, 227,500 people attended fairs and events at the Mother Lode Fair, the report by the State Department of Food & Agriculture, division of fairs and expositions said.