ESCANABA – A former Bark River resident has been working on a documentary about the Upper Peninsula State Fair. Tara Kutz began shooting at the fair two years and plans to increase production this year.

The film is titled “Our State Fair.”

“The U.P. State Fair is actually very important to me. Coming to the fair evey year as a kid I used to bring lamb’s with my 4-H Club to sell at the livestock auction, camped at the fair with my cousins when they brought their animals too and I even had my first job at the fair working for Mr. Bob Moroski at his shaved ice stands. I did that for out four or five years,” said Kutz.

She is raising $12-thousand online through a crowdfunding campaign at Kickstarter.com. That’s where people can contribute to the project online. She said the budget for the project is $90-thousand.

“It’s been really great in this crowdfunding campaign to see all the folks who really love the State Fair and love the U.P. and want to see it brought out into the wider world,” Kutz said.

Next year, she will be using members of Players de Noc, a local theatrical group, to help film portions of the musical “State Fair” that will be incorporated into the film. Kutz says she hopes the documentary will be ready for the film festival circuit in 2018.