The first Deschutes County Fair — then called the Potato Show and County Fair — was on Oct. 15, 1920.

It snowed that week in some places in Central Oregon. So, it’s probably OK to say it was cooler and there was a lower chance of wildfire smoke than the end of July and beginning of August, when the Deschutes County Fair was held this year in the heat. This year’s high temperatures during the four-day fair were: 95, 103, 105 and 92. The Friday temperature and air quality was affected when a dangerous wildfire broke out between Bend and Redmond.

We have to wonder: Does it make sense to move the fair earlier or later in the year in order to dodge some possible — nowadays likely — heat and smoke?

Geoff Hinds, executive director of the Deschutes County Fair & Expo Center, told us the answer is not a “hard and fast no.”

In the 104 years of the fair, the dates have consistently varied. In the last 20 years or so, it has been relatively consistently scheduled in the beginning of August, he said. Moving it is complicated, though not undoable.

Agricultural education and the showing of livestock is at the heart of the fair. There are requirements for the ages of the animals and how long they have been leased, trained or under the care of the individual showing them. Moving the date around could require adjustments. It may mean animals would need to be bred at a different time. A week or two of a change in the dates for the fair wouldn’t make much difference. A month would.

And remember, of course, it’s students that are the core of Future Farmers of America and 4-H. Moving the fair back to a time when they are back in school would be problematic.

The fair is also part of a circuit for hundreds of businesses. Move the Deschutes County Fair and the schedules for those businesses would have to move to. That’s possible, but it may lead to conflict with other fairs and other events. The events on the calendar of the fairgrounds would also have to be cleared around the new dates to allow for set up and take down time.

The Deschutes fair depends on volunteers to run smoothly. Switching around the dates and moving in closer to fall might dry up the availability of some of the teachers and other school staff that volunteer now.

But in the end, Hinds said: “We are always looking at options and what makes the most sense for the fair and the community.”