Hmmm....interesting... looking at A of A's route from their website:
DATE, EVENT, LOCATION, NO. OF YEARS AT FAIR
Aug. 3-14 Ohio State Fair Columbus, OH 12
Aug. 5-14 Franklin County Fair Malone, NY 28
Aug. 19-27 Catoosa County Fair Ringgold, GA NEW
Aug. 22-28 Washington County Fair Greenwich, NY 5
Aug. 24-28 Drexel Community Fair Drexel, NC NEW
Sept. 1-5 Columbia County Fair Chatham, NY 28
Sept. 1-5 Geauga County Fair Burton, OH 3
Sept. 1-11 Upper SC State Fair Greensville, SC NEW
Sept. 8-11 Hebron Harvest Fair Hebron, CT NEW
Sept. 14-18 St. Hedwig Festival Wilmington, DE NEW
Sept. 15-25 Gwinnett County Fair Lawrenceville, GA 9
Sept. 21-24 Vance County Regional Fair Henderson, NC 33
Sept. 26-Oct. 1 Rocky Mount Fair Rocky Mount, NC 28
Sept. 27-Oct. 2 Sumter County Fair Sumter, SC 51
Oct. 3-8 Pitt County Fair Greenville, NC 28
Oct. 4-8 Union County Fair Union, SC NEW
Oct. 10-15 Kiwanis Ogeechee Fair Statesboro, GA 27
Oct. 17-23 Eastern Carolina Agricultural Fair Florence, SC 44
Oct. 17-23 Orangeburg County Fair Orangeburg, SC NEW
Oct. 27-Nov. 5 Coastal Carolina Fair Charleston, SC 47
There are only 3 Georgia dates on there. It appears that part of the lineup from the OHSF would have been heading to GA. It also looks like they have some real tight circus jumps to make if they play these dates, and some of those jumps are a pretty significant distance. I'd have to speculate that their ability to make the dates on time was factored into the decision as well.
It's too bad that this is occurring -- for both A of A and the fairs... it hurts both of them in the long run.
"A journey of a thousand miles must begin with a single step." - Lao-Tsu
"Faith is taking the first step, even when you don't see the whole staircase." - Martin Luther King Jr.
"Only those who dare to fail greatly can ever achieve greatly." - Robert F. Kennedy