By JULIE CARLE
BG Independent News
Most often people who bid on cookies, cakes, pies and breads at the Wood County Fair’s three separate baked goods auctions are rewarded knowing their money supports the youth and adult bakers at the fair.
After Wood County 4-H alumna Karen Kotula’s sugar cookies helped raise $3,200 during the Wood County 4-H Bake-Off Auction on Friday, the next morning she delivered her own message of support—more of her sugar cookies and a thank-you note—to show her appreciation to some of the 4-H auction’s best bidders.
Wood County Sheriff Mark Wasylyshyn and Cindy Zaker of Bradner-based Cindy’s Concessions and Frank’s Fries food trucks at the fair were two of the lucky recipients. They were among the many bidders whose bid paddles were busy most of the night. Nearly $13,000 was raised at the 4-H baked goods auction alone.
Kotula’s cookies are a tradition, not only at the fair but throughout the year. She has perfected a recipe she learned from her Aunt Maxine and bakes the cookies and delivers them to her circle of family of friends when they have accomplished something. “When I see students’ or 4-H members’ names in the paper, I make them cookies and include a clipping of the newspaper article,” Kotula said. Now, her generosity is recognized and repaid by local officials when they bid on the lots that include her cookies.
The deals and jostling that go on, all in fun between county and state officials, adds to the levity of the event. Ultimately though, the 4-H auction gets the most community support of the three auctions because “it’s for the kids,” Wasylyshyn said.
“It’s an honor and a pleasure to support the 4-H program by purchasing some of their baked good entries,” Zaker said. The family business started with her grandfather, Lee Entsminger, paying $50 for a caramel corn recipe to sell at local festivals and fairs. Her father, Frank Isch, took it a step further and expanded the offerings to French fries and other fried delights.
The Wood County Fair has been good to the family, which is why she is always willing to bring her wallet to support the youth. “I know in my heart without 4-H and the junior fair, there would be no fair,” she said.
The open class baked goods auction on Monday raised about $1,400 and Saturday’s pie and cake auction added a little more than $2,000 to support the fair and the bakers.
At the first auction Monday, a good crowd packed the Home and Garden Building in hopes of going home with some tasty treats.
Sisters Susan Peet of Bowling Green, Ramona Craddock of Texas and Linda Hobbs of Colorado joined forces to be among the significant buyers at the first baked goods auction.
The baked goods were sold in lots that included trays full of entries as varied as homemade noodles and pasta salad to carrot cakes and chocolate chip cookies. The sisters were on the lookout for Genevieve Coffman’s homemade treats. Coffman is one of Peet’s granddaughters.
When all was said and done, as auctioneer Steve Powell says at the end of the bidding process, the sisters had two trays filled with dozens of goodies and a couple of extra cakes. Knowing full well they didn’t need everything, Peet suggested an act of kindness to her niece Paisley Mackey and Coffman. The girls kindly presented some of the items to Sheriff Wasylyshyn who was there to support the fair auction. He shared them with the workers at the sheriff’s fairgrounds posts.
McKenzie Tubaugh of Kirk’s Kitchen, stepped up to purchase sweet treats at two of the three food auctions. Participating in the auctions was her way to show their appreciation for the support the fair has shown them since they joined the midway with their mashed potato and noodle bowls three years ago.
The food vendor is from Carrollton, Ohio, but some of their employees are from the Otsego School District. “They told us we needed to be at the Wood County Fair. We came three years ago, and we love it here. Purchasing some of the cakes and pies is a way to thank you for all the support you give to us,” Tubaugh said. Her employees also benefit when they get to eat the goodies they bring back.
Debbie Weihl of Perrysburg wasn’t a bidder, but thanks to her time and talents in the kitchen there were plenty of pies, cakes, and cheesecakes for sale in the open class culinary categories.
For the pie and cheesecake day on Saturday, she entered 10 pies and four cheesecakes, or nearly 30% of the total entries that day. Her pies and cheesecakes brought in bids of more than $800, or almost 40% of the auctions’ approximate $2,000 in proceeds.
Her two best-of-show entries—a German chocolate pie with pecan crust and a cheesecake—netted $300 total; three first-place pies and a first-place cheesecake raised $150; two second-place pies, a mixed berry and a lemon meringue, brought in $100; and bidders paid almost $160 for the three third-place pies.
