By JULIE CARLE
BG Independent News
When the Wood County Pork Producers feed Pork-a-Lean sandwiches to hungry Wood County Fair-goers, the proceeds go back into the community to support local 4-H and FFA organizations and members.
Pork-a-Leans, the sausage patty that uses a secret seasoning recipe created by the Belleville family in the 1930s, has become a fan favorite at the fair and at Belleville Meat Market. In the late 1970s, the pork producers, led at the time by Paul Woelke and Norm Fredrich, tapped into the patty’s fame as a promotional campaign to encourage people to eat more pork.
Their goal was to sell a tasty sandwich at an affordable price, eventually making the Pork-a-Lean a must-have meal at least once during the fair. Their campaign worked.
They first sold the sandwiches at the fair in a food trailer rented from the Henry County Fair. Within a few years had raised enough money to purchase their own trailer, recalled Tim Veryser, Wood County Pork Producers President.
“As money started coming in, the pork producers with my dad (Henry Veryser) as vice president and Leroy David as president built a 20-feet long by 8-feet wide food stand and a storage shed that sat across from the former swine barn on the midway.
More than 12,000 sandwiches were sold during the fairs in the late 1980s and early 1990s, Veryser said. The organization’s healthy treasury enabled them to support the junior fair livestock sale and bid on young swine exhibitors’ market pigs. Sandwich sales got bigger and the pork producers “started supporting everything across the board,” Veryser said.
“All of the expenses are paid with the money raised, then we go back and buy the junior fair members’ animals,” he said. “I don’t usually buy the champions. I’m more interested in supporting the kids whose animals aren’t at the top, but who work hard with their animals.”
His goal is to increase the average price paid in the sale by supporting the exhibitors “who don’t always get the biggest money,” he said. “They deserve as much as everyone else.”
In addition to the junior fair livestock sale, the producers also support the Catch-A-Pig sale in December, the Wood County Livestock Judging Team to help cover traveling expenses, and the Ohio FFA Foundation. They used to donate funds to high school home economics programs before they were no longer offered so they could purchase pork for their nutrition lessons.
Former fair site, new building
After last year’s fair when the pork producers joined forces with the Wood County Beef Producers in their building, Veryser said he saved some of their proceeds to build a new building for the 2025 fair. They worked with the beef producers “because it’s hard to get help” to staff the food stand throughout the fair. However, the pilot project didn’t work out as hoped, Veryser said. “We couldn’t get along.”
They negotiated with the fair, got their original location back and built a new stand. This one is 36-feet long by 12-feet wide. There is a 30 x 12 working area and six feet of storage all under one roof.
The new stand was built primarily with donated materials and time, Veryser said, which meant they didn’t have to use all of the funds they had set aside for the building. “It’s all done and paid for.”
All of the people, organizations and businesses that provided time, labor, money and materials to the project are listed on a donor board displayed on the building.
The Wood County Pork Producers remain focused on promoting their product at a reasonable price. This year’s price is $4, because the price of pork has gone up, Veryser said. “We try to have a sandwich that a family can come in and have an affordable meal.”
While the heydays of Pork-a-Lean sales averaged 10,000 sandwiches during the fair, Veryser said the last few years sales have average between 7,000 and 8,000. He suggests that hot weather and changing eating habits contribute to the slight decrease in the number of sandwiches sold.
Even at 7,000 to 8,000 pork patties, staffing the food stand is a constant challenge.
“Keeping up with the demand can be difficult,” he said. He pays local groups, 4-H clubs and FFA chapters $300 for a three-hour shift to supplement their treasuries. It’s a good fundraiser for groups to spend a little time and make a decent amount.
Veryser promised, “As long as I can get a skeleton crew, we will make it work. Customers might have to wait a little bit, but we’re going to keep this thing going, so what we earn, we can give back to the kids in the fair.”
