By JULIE CARLE
BG Independent News
Rising product costs, lack of parent volunteers, and building maintenance and insurance costs contributed to the Lake Music Boosters’ decision to permanently close its restaurant this year at the Wood County Fairgrounds.
The announcement was made at the recent Wood County Fair Board meeting. Second Vice President Paul Perry reported the boosters had notified the fair that it would not operate the food stand this year. The fair will seek another organization or business to take over the building.
“We have tried for many years to overcome the volunteer barriers and thought that bringing the Northwood Music Boosters on board would make all the difference,” Lake Music Booster Vice President Adrienne Gurney explained. “It was helpful, but simply not enough.” They also felt the pinch of splitting the profits between the two organizations.
The Lake “Band Boosters” started the food stand at the fair more than 60 years ago as a means of raising funds for the organization. They were first in a food tent and in about 1977, the current building was built, Gurney said.
She didn’t know how much total revenue they generated over the years; however, she estimated that in general they would earn between $5,000 to $7,000 during the fair. “For many years it was our biggest annual fundraiser and played a crucial role in supporting our mission of supporting our students and music programs,” she said.
The cost of supplies the past two years significantly ate into the profits. “We also found that our earnings were largely related to the weather during the fair; people just don’t come out when it’s close to 90 degrees,” Gurney said.
Without the fair food stand, the boosters will continue to find other avenues to raise funds in support of the programs. “We have wonderful support from our community, but what we do need is more people to join the music boosters so we can keep things going for a long time,” she said.
The boosters did reach out to some other organizations to see if they were interested in taking it over, but they declined. The building will revert to the fair board, and they will seek another organization or business to take over the space.
“When we vacate the building on May 21, we will leave the grill and fryer behind as they both continue to be very efficient despite their age,” Gurney said. If another group takes over the building, the boosters will provide the option to purchase some of the equipment such as the commercial refrigerator and kitchen and service equipment. There is also a large, double-door antique refrigerator that will be available.
“It is a bittersweet thing for me,” Gurney said. “Three generations of my family worked at the fair and I hate to see it go. It’s just a sign of the times, mostly that people are just too busy.”
Board plans another Micro Wrestling special event in 2025
With nearly $6,000 in profits from the April 13 Micro Wrestling special event, the Fair Board decided to bring it back in 2025.
During the meeting, Fair Director Steve Speck said, “All the way around, the event came together well. It worked out with 260 ringside seats on the floor, 240 seats in bleachers and the rest of the crowd was standing.”
Revenue from the 577 tickets sold was over $16,000, and food and beverage sales contributed $5,500. Expenses included $1,839 for hotels and food; $12,500 for the show; $660 for security; and food/beverage expenses of $1,062. The overall profit was $5,627.
“The audience enjoyed the event. They are into that WWF-type entertainment,” Speck said. He suggested additional advertising in the Toledo market could draw an additional audience to the event if they tried again in 2025.
“We do need some other ideas too. We don’t want to run the wrestlers into the ground,” said Fair Board President John Nissen
Speck responded that one more time could work with additional advertising. The board will plan to book the event for late March 2025.
Also during the meeting:
– Wood County Junior Fair Coordinator Julie Hannan reported two dates for junior fair exhibitors and their families to receive assistance with the Junior Fair Entry online system. Assistance will be offered at the fairgrounds on May 6 from 6 to 8 p.m. and May 11 from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. She also said the number of exhibitors who participate in weigh-ins of market goats and market sheep has declined, especially compared to the number of animals that are exhibited during the fair. “We may need to revisit the rules,” she said.
– Fair Board Director Kip McDowell announced the junior fair beef weigh-in is May 11 from 8 to 11 a.m.
– A temporary waterline will be installed in the infield to reduce the number of tractors that are moving around on the infield during the fair and National Tractor Pull. The cost will be split 50-50 between the fair board and the tractor pullers, with each organization paying approximately $2,400.
– Paving will be done on the center section of the Junior Fair Building parking lot and a triangle behind the beef barn.
– The fair has reactivated its Instagram account and will cross-post information with the Facebook account.
