Brad Estes of Rapid City was elected president Monday of the Central States Fair Inc. board during the group's annual meeting.

Central States Fair Inc. oversees the annual Central States Fair in August, the nonprofessional rodeo portions of the Black Hills Stock Show & Rodeo and the year-round operation of the fairgrounds, which are owned by Pennington County.

Estes, a hotel developer, will serve a one-year term. He had just completed a term as vice president and had previously served two terms as president of the Central States Fair board.

Other officers elected at the meeting were Dan Dryden, vice president; David Kalil, secretary; and David Lindblom, treasurer.

New board members elected were Monte Lucas, Jeff Jundt and David Jenner.

They replace outgoing board members Bruce Rampelberg, NanCee Maynard and Andy Storms. Rampelberg had also finished a term as president.

Awards were given to: Jeannine Bockwoldt, poultry superintendent at the fair, Superintendent of the Year; Pennington County Firefighters Association, which operates the medic stations during the fair, Merit Award; Mac Meyer, Blue Ribbon Award for outstanding volunteer; and Lisa Storms, who heads the Black Hills Stock Show Stockmen's Banquet and Ball, Hero Award.

For the eighth consecutive year, Central States Fair Inc., a private nonprofit group, received a clean bill of health from auditor Ketel Thorstenson, Central States Fair general manager Ron Jeffries said.

Central States Fair Inc. ended its fiscal year Sept. 30, with about$545,000 in cash and investments. That was about $100,000 less than the previous year, due to spending on equipment and various improvements at the fairgrounds, Jeffries said.

Jeffries also noted that Ryan Wright of Rapid City is the new finance officer for the fair. He replaces Nate Stadheim, who resigned in February.

Contact Steve Miller at 394-8417 or steve.miller@rapidcityjournal.com