By JULIE CARLE
BG Independent News
Serendipity played a hand in Jim Blackford being recognized during the 99th annual Ohio Fair Managers Association convention as one of only nine Outstanding Fair Supporters in the state.
He received the award for helping to get and keep the Wood County Fairgrounds in tip-top shape for the fair and year-round over the past 14 years. The award might not have happened if the Cooper-Standard facility in Bowling Green had not closed in 2012.
As luck would have it, Blackford had been working part-time at the fairgrounds since about 2010. He would stop at the fairgrounds after his shifts at Cooper and help out as needed, by mowing, and repairing or cleaning buildings. The full-time maintenance position at the fairgrounds came open and was offered to him just after Cooper announced it would be closing the plant by 2012.
“I’ve been here ever since, and I love it,” Blackford said, surrounded by the tools and equipment of the fairgrounds’ maintenance shop.
He takes the job seriously, especially being able to help plan projects that need to be done on the grounds and in the buildings.
He and members of the Fair Board were instrumental in establishing a 10-year plan for repairing and replacing roofs of the major buildings.
“Covid put us a little behind, but we are down to two barns,” he said proudly.
They are also working to update some of the lighting to make it more efficient, first in the Champion Barn and if it works, they will change the lighting in some of the other barns. He has made new doors for many of the barns and kept the Pratt Pavilion—the pride of the fair in like-new shape.
Blackford has helped undertake a major upgrade to the electrical panels across the grounds and the campgrounds. In addition to improving the electrical boxes, he is making sure everything is properly labeled and documented for future reference.
There isn’t much that he doesn’t like doing in the job. Some of the projects underway and being planned include remodeling the fair offices, adding epoxy to the women’s restroom, adding a third window for busy times at the box office, and mowing, nearly constant mowing.
While Blackford does a lot of work, he is grateful for a team of workers who provide essential manpower and skills for the work that needs to get done.
Currently, he relies on two part-time workers, John Delaney and Jerry Perez, “who are great at what they do. John loves to mow and takes great pride in making sure the grounds look pristine, and Jerry is great at cleaning. They both love what they are doing,” Blackford said.
Aside from preparing the buildings and grounds for the fair and tractor pull each year, Blackford and the crew also handle the ins and outs of winter storage and make sure rental facilities are ready for groups that rent them for events, shows and meetings.
Blackford makes sure that customers—the people and groups that rent the facilities throughout the year—come first.
“The gun show, toy show, agricultural groups, livestock organizations and businesses, such as Painted Clovers, are regular renters, so it’s our job to make sure their events are successful, otherwise they will go someplace else,” he said.
The winter storage takes a lot of time as vehicles, boats, RVs and other equipment come in from October until about Thanksgiving, and then go out once the nice weather returns. It’s not a job he enjoys because of the stress of getting everything loaded in and out of the buildings safely. He has developed an efficient system using up every available space. In fact, over time, the revenue from winter storage has more than doubled from about $30,000 to $80,000, he said.
“It’s really tight, but with the part-time workers, we get it done. I couldn’t do it without them. They are my backbone,” he added.
He admitted that he spends so much time at the fairgrounds that the projects at his Weston homestead often get ignored. He does still have a horse that he likes to care for and some cattle that he raises for meat.
“I was really honored to get this award. I didn’t realize it was such a big deal, but it was presented during the Ohio Department of Agriculture breakfast where Gov. DeWine spoke and the Director of Agriculture and other state officials,” he said. “The award is really for the team. I couldn’t do this without the part-time help and the support of the Fair Board.
At the Ohio Fair Managers Association convention, Wood County also earned three awards in the medium-sized fair category of the Ohio Fairs Communication contest. They won first place for the fair’s television ad and second place for the outdoor promotional ad.
“We also won the award for best agriculture education programming for our partnership with the Wood County District Public and the Bowling Green VFW, Post 1140, for bringing in the illustrator of “Down on the Farm” and giving away books for our story-time programming,” said Fair Director Jessica Nagel.
