The 61st annual Central Alabama Fair is less than a month away, and organizers are making sure everything is in place to make this year a success.

The fair, which is put on each year by the Selma Lion’s Club, is scheduled for the week of Oct. 2 through Oct. 7. It serves as a fundraiser to promote vision preservation and awareness.

“I guess we’re about as ready as we’re going to get,” said fair manager John Haskell. “Everything is ready to go as far as I know unless something comes up.”

The fairgrounds will be open Monday through Saturday and will feature around 20 rides on the midway, games, food, exhibits, pageants and more.

“We’re gonna have the bingo booth and the dunking booth, and of course Cozy Dogs will be out here,” Haskell said. “We’re just excited and waiting on everybody to show up.”

Haskell said planning and preparation is a long process that starts around the week after the fair ends, but it is well worth the time and effort once people start making their way into the fairgrounds each night.

“There’s a lot of work to it, but there’s a lot of enjoyment seeing people getting out and seeing people they haven’t seen in a long time and going out and having fun,” Haskell said.

The grounds will open at 5:20 p.m. Monday, 5:30 p.m. Tuesday, 4 p.m. Wednesday, 5:30 p.m. Thursday, 5:30 p.m. Friday and 1 p.m. Saturday.

Haskell said the Lion’s Club has been busy making sure the fairgrounds are ready, as well as tearing down the old bathroom and building a new one.

“We had an old bathroom out there that kept getting stopped up, so we built a brand new one out there,” Haskell said.

“It was old and had been out here a long time, and it was getting kind of on the rundown side. We were having trouble with the sewage and stuff, so we decided we go ahead and tear it down, find out what the major problem was for it and we fixed it and got the new sewer lines in it.”

Haskell said the project started in early summer and was just completed last month.

“It’s a nice one,” he said. “I think people will enjoy it a whole bunch.”

Arm bands will be available Monday, Wednesday and Saturday for $20. School age children will get in free Wednesday night with a canned food product. Thursday night will feature country karaoke, which is hosted by Dixie Country. Cash prizes will be awarded for first, second and third places from $400 to $100.

The Central Alabama Fair Pageant will take place Monday, Tuesday and Saturday.

Haskell said anyone planning to enter an item into one of the many exhibits should enter their items on Saturday, Sept. 30 from 9 a.m. until 5 p.m. at the fair office.

For more information, visit the Central Alabama Fair website at www.centralalabamafair.com.