McHenry County Fair creating ‘Monopoly’ board game as part of 75th anniversary

A “Monopoly” board based on the McHenry County Fair could be released soon as part of the fair celebrating its 75th anniversary.

The spots on the board will be named after something that has to do with the fair, such as the swine barn or goat barn, while a number of sponsors and businesses will get their logo placed on the board throughout, said Hannah Rinn, who is with the fair.

Nearly all of the board’s 90 or so spots already have been sold in only a couple days, Rinn said. There’s about three left, but a few businesses could soon fill them.

Those involved with the fair are putting together the board, with the goal of sending off the board’s design by the start of March, Rinn said. It will take between 10 and 12 weeks to get it back, meaning the fair could receive the final product by June.

To get on the board, a spot costs between $35 and $600, Rinn said. If a business pays $600, they also get their name on the chance card and their logo in the middle of the board. A spot on the board game itself cost $350.

The figures that people can use to play will be unique to the fair too, and include a Ferris wheel, a cowboy boot, a tractor and different animals, Rinn said.

“Anything that has to do with the McHenry County Fair,” she said.

Many of the businesses slated to be on the board are sponsors of the fair, as well as businesses the fair has worked with in the past, Rinn said.

Word got out on the board, causing it to fill up fast, Harvard Eggs, Feed & Produce owner Sue Dietz said, as many in the business community jumped on the chance when they heard about it.

Dietz’s business is one of those that will be on the board. She was called about it on Thursday morning and said it was “an immediate yes.”

As someone who has not only been a sponsor of the fair but had children and grandchildren in 4-H, she said she saw it as one more way to support the fair and to receive support back as well.

“We’ve always been supportive of the fair,” Dietz said. “It sounded fun.”

It’s currently planned that between 1,000 and 1,500 copies of the board game are going to be made for sale, Rinn said. The fair already is taking orders, with more than 200 already being sold.

“It’s taken off,” Rinn said. “It’s a little crazy.”

The fair is held annually in August, but in the lead-up to that, there will be a number of events to celebrate the fair’s 75th anniversary, including an Easter Egg hunt in April and a food truck event, Rinn said.

One building at the fair also will be geared toward taking a “walk back in time,” which will have pictures, artifacts and a video, Rinn said. For that, the fair is working with the McHenry County Historical Society.