Sellers enjoys new role as fair manager

Sep. 14—If you've been to the Sanford Lions Lee Regional Fair over the years, you've probably seen Preston Sellers with a camera around his neck taking hundreds of photos.

Now that he's the fair manager, you can still see him taking pictures — between all of his other duties.

Sellers took over last year, and this is his first fair as manager.

"Bob (Nelson) did it for years and he said, 'I need a break,' " Sellers said. "I twisted every arm in the Lions Club I could and I finally realized if I'm going to twist arms to get them to do it, I better be willing to volunteer myself, so I did, and it's been fun — but it's been a lot of work."

A Sanford native, Sellers is a 1966 graduate of Sanford Central High School, a retiree from Central Carolina Community College and a Sanford Lions Club member since 2015. He has worked for numerous years on the Lee Regional Fair, especially with the Agricultural Exhibit Hall, and in 2022-2023 served as the club president.

"We had a great crowd on the first day," he said. "We had all the parking lots full on the opening night. I don't remember that happening before."

Sellers said that when he realized that the Fair was going to begin on Sept. 11, they had to do something special.

"So the (Sanford) Fire Department came in and did a presentation and we have a 9/11 Memorial Flag here with the names of everybody who died on it," he said. "We had that ceremony and then we had our usual ceremonies with the dignitaries cutting the ribbon and at the end of the 9/11 ceremony, we had a bagpipe player play a couple of songs. He played 'Amazing Grace,' which I think is just an awesome song on bagpipes — especially in connection with 9/11."

Sellers said there were several new things at this year's fair to help make it easier to navigate.

"We have a new handicap walkway coming in the main gate," he said. "We have a circle around the ends of the Lions Field — a new paved circle with the Old Country Store. That's to make it easier for those who are handicapped and for strollers."

As for the rest of the Fair, Sellers said there's plenty to do.

"We have the usual goats, cattle and chicken contests and so forth," he said. "The usual displays. This year, we have over 2,400 entries in our exhibits, which is, I'm told, 300 more than last year. The exhibits came in real big, and we've got them arranged and beautiful."

The Fair is the Sanford Lions Club's major fundraising event. Funds raised are used to support vision exams in county schools, vision van, several scholarships, Christians United Outreach Center, Salvation Army, Camp Dogwood, Toys for Tots, Boys and Girls Home, Helping Hand Clinic, Sanford Area Soccer League and fairgrounds upkeep.