By JULIE CARLE
BG Independent News
Attendance at the 2025 Wood County Fair reached over 50,000, a significant increase from previous years.
“We had just over 50,000 people through the gates, which is up from the previous few years, which were about 35,000 to 38,000 through the gates,” Tony Violi, first vice president of the Wood County Fair Board reported at the recent fair board meeting.
“To have over 50,000 people through our gates for those gate numbers to be up dramatically from the last two years and even the 150th anniversary is a testament to every one of us for all the long hours and the hard work that we put in,” said President Paul Perry. “I heard nothing but phenomenal comments from a lot of community members and vendors on the ground. So, we all have something to be very, very proud of here.”
The financial picture for the agricultural society is still pending until all revenues and expenses are accounted for, explained Fair Treasurer Kalen Bloom.
The gross profit for the fiscal year report includes over $1 million with expenses totaling 970,000, he reported. “We are coming in the green as of now right around $57,000.”
When asked if there is enough money to pay the bills from July and August, Bloom said there is nearly $400,000 in savings.
There are still credit card payments not yet recorded and checks to be paid for junior fair livestock sale exhibitors. Premiums from the sale totaled $356,027.05 with an outstanding balance of $93,543.65 from 54 buyers, who will be contacted for final payments.
Plans are to have livestock sale premium checks available for pick up in the office on Sept. 17 and after two weeks, the remaining checks would be mailed out after Oct. 1.
Jr. Fair parent concerned about delay in livestock sale information
Holly Wensink raised concerns about the junior fair livestock sale process. She asked why junior fair livestock exhibitors had not yet received the list of buyers who bid on their projects. In previous years, the youth had the lists within about 48 hours after the sale so they could write thank you notes to the businesses and individuals that supported them.
“I just think seven weeks is a long time to thank these buyers,” Wensink said. “And now these kids are back to school. The delay hinders our children’s ability to send timely thank you notes.”
She added that the delay could impact a buyer’s decision to support future livestock sales. “The worst thing is if the buyers get mad, they’re not going to come back and if they don’t get thanked they’re not going to come back.”
The transition to the Fair Entry system for the livestock sale, while having benefits, created difficulty in extracting and formatting buyer data in a timely manner, said Fair Director Jessica Nagel. The task to pull information about the buyers for each of the livestock sale exhibitors requires significant time to do manually. She pointed out that she and Fair Director Conni Grames have full-time jobs that limits the time they have to go through thousands of 525 pages of data to extract some of those details.
The discussion on the livestock sale highlighted a disconnect between the public’s expectations and the office’s operational capacity, with staff defending their workload while parents expressed urgent needs.
“As someone who talks to all the buyers when they come in, because a lot of people are paying in the office, no one’s coming in angry that they’re not getting thank yous,” said Sally Nietz. “Everyone is happy with how the sale went. Because they just handed us a check two days ago, they understand that we’re not turning out checks right away.”
“The concern will go back to the livestock sale committee, which meets on Oct. 1. This will be a topic of conversation to talk about to see what we can do better for next year,” Perry said.
Board structure debated
A proposal by Fair Director John Nissen was introduced to change the board’s structure from 25 district-based seats to 21 at-large seats to address difficulties in filling vacant positions.
Currently, there are five vacant seats on the board and the ability to get individuals to run from districts has been problematic.
“I know some people have thought that you do that and then you get it weighted one way or the other,” Grames said. “But if you don’t have anybody interested in doing it…it’s hard to get anybody interested.”
Someone else suggested returning to voting by township rather than districts, which include several townships in each of three districts.
The districts are larger and make it more difficult to communicate with the people who are in the district but don’t live close. The result is that there is potentially less district representation ane more family, friends and neighbors are voting for candidates.
“When we were voting by township, we never had this trouble. There were always people running; there was never empty seats,” said Fair Director Donald Bechstein.
Another director argued that reducing the number to 21 is a problem because already so much is expected of each director. They discussed using people who support the fair and are willing to help, but don’t want to be on the fair board.
After the somewhat tense and prolonged debate about the potential for geographic imbalance, the motion was tabled for further committee review.
Amanda Barndt thanked the board for its support of the 3rd annual Ring of Dreams Livestock Sale and the Peewee Sheep Show. “Both were huge successes,” she said. “The Ring of Dreams gives the opportunity to individuals who wouldn’t otherwise be a part of the show or the livestock world. And the Peewee Sheep Show that allows younger siblings, cousins, friends, and neighbors the opportunity to show sheep was also well loved.”
“Thank you, Amanda, for everything you do to put that all together,” Perry said. “It’s not a small undertaking, and I know you have a team of people that help you out, so tell them we say thanks as well.”
She also requested to do both again next year, which the board approved later in the meeting.
Several spending motions were approved, including $5,000 for two used large fans for livestock barns, up to $10,000 to concrete the poultry barn, with the total cost offset by significant donations, and funds for a gun raffle and fall camping supplies.
The Winner’s Circle is no longer done, Nagel said. However, she and Grames will put together some of the information, buyers and photos that were taken. All buyers and sponsors will then be included in the 2026 fair book, which is already in development.
The board also elected officers for the year. Perry was re-elected president; Violi was elected first vice president; Christina Adams, second vice president; Jessica Nagel, secretary; and Kalen Bloom, treasurer.
Before the next meeting, all the committees will be decided. “We will put people in the right positions to where we need those positions to be filled,” Perry said. “I’m looking forward to being a big part of 2026 fair and working with all of you. We will make it even bigger and better.”
