By JULIE CARLE
BG Independent News
There are as many reasons people attend the Wood County Fair as there are snow cone flavors.
The traditional cherry, strawberry and grape-flavored snow cones are like the families whose roots are in farming, raising livestock and participating in 4-H and FFA. They not only attend the fair, they participate in it — like the Pennington family from Wayne.
Renee (Reynolds) Pennington was in the Rabbit/Poultry Barn Tuesday to watch her son show his rabbits. Tanner, a senior at Elmwood High School and a member of the Country Royals 4-H Club and Elmwood FFA, is the last of her three children to show livestock at the junior fair.
She grew up on a farm and showed animals during her junior fair days. Now for the past 20 years, she and her husband Jeremie, have helped and watched as Lauren, Brandon and now Tanner showed the gamut of livestock, from horses, pigs, and beef feeders to goats, rabbits and chickens.
“We’ve shown everything except sheep,” she laughed.
This year, Tanner wanted to show an emu, but when they found emus were kind of expensive, he ended up adding pigeons to his animal projects. He’s unsure if he will participate next summer, but if he does, she said he is considering rounding out the family’s list by showing sheep.
Cathy Newlove Wenig and Gordon Wenig were with their grandson Cooper Wise, strolling through Eastwood FFA’s Babyland, where several pens of puppies yipped and kid goats bleated for attention. While the grandparents are veteran fairgoers, with a history of entering projects and showing animals themselves and with their children, the next generation is getting an early start.
Nine-year-old Cooper was at the fair Tuesday to check on his entries in the Fine Arts and Home & Garden buildings. It was his first day at the fair this year, but not likely his last. He was pretty excited that he won a third place in the Cake Pops class for kids 7-10 years old. His bright yellow with blue sprinkles cake pops definitely stood out in the display case.
He admitted the cake pops might have cracked a little bit, hinting that he otherwise might have earned a red or blue ribbon. His grandmother gently reminded him that cake pops aren’t easy, and off they went to check on his entries.
John, Brayden and Gracie McIntyre and Pat Cory and her grandsons Lane and Colter Hurt might be more like blue raspberry, bubblegum and green apple snow cones, listed among the most popular flavors. They come to the fair to enjoy their favorite things.
The McIntyres were seated at a picnic table in the shade near the Champion Barn. They were sharing sodas, French fries, corn dogs and their top choice—cheese curds.
Brayden, a Clover Bud in Duke’s Mixture 4-H Club, said the rides and the chainsaw demonstration were also his favorites. They planned to visit the club’s 4-H booth at the Junior Fair Building before heading to the 2 p.m. chainsaw demonstration.
Brayden said, “I’m excited to see what he (chainsaw artist Dennis Beach) will make,” when he transforms a huge trunk of tree into a detailed work of art.
Colter and Lane Hurt of Wauseon attended the fair as part of an annual tradition with their grandmother Pat Cory of Bowling Green.
When asked what he liked the best, Colter said, “I like the rides. No, it’s the animals, the animals,” he said as he fed carrots to some of the goats in the All American Petting Farm in the Family Fun Zone.
For Seth Runion, Jessica Swaisgood and Alicia Boreman, the favorite part of the fair is getting to meet people and raise awareness for their products and services.
Calling out to fair visitors like a circus barker, Runion, a representative with Everdry Waterproofing, encouraged people to grab some free candy and enter a raffle for a $250 Visa gift card.
“Getting a chance to talk to people,” is what he enjoys most as he staffs the company booth in the commercial exhibitors area under the grandstands. The company sets up a booth at the Wood County Fair and many other fairs and festivals as an outreach to communities within their region.
“We’re here to provide education and a service. We believe it’s important for people to protect the value of their home, their biggest investment,” Runion said.
Wood County agencies such as Children’s Resource Center (CRC), Jobs and Family Services, National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI), Wood Lane, and the Alcohol, Drug Addiction and Mental Health Services Board are constants in the commercial exhibitor area each year.
“We like to support the other mental health agencies that are here, as well as the community and the fair,” said Jessica Swaisgood, executive director of NAMI Wood County. “The fair offers a great opportunity for us to talk to people and to raise awareness about our mental health services and resources.”
CRC’s Mike Kasperczyk, clinical supervisor, and Alicia Boreman, clinical director, enjoyed interacting with passersby. Offering popcorn-filled cups, stress balls that look like brains, tote bags, notepads and raffle tickets at their booth, the two greeted a nearly constant stream of people stopping by to grab the goodies.
“We like to provide anything that is shiny or delicious to catch people’s attention,” Kasperczyk said with a friendly smile. “Then we have the chance to talk about our services and our community outreach,” including events such as their Art Fair on Aug. 26 from 4-7 p.m. at CRC, 1045 Klotz Road.
Abby Gerber and her five-year-old daughter Greta were like cheesecake, banana daiquiri and cream soda flavored snow cones, some of the newest and trendiest flavors on the menus. The family recently moved from Michigan to Perrysburg, which meant the fair was completely new to them.
Gerber explained she broke up the drudgery of unpacking by finding fun activities to do every other day. Their first stop at the fair was for Story Time in the Fine Arts Building. Before Fair Board director Jessica Nagel started reading the fair-themed book, the mom-daughter duo oohed and ahhed at the Lego characters and sock collections entered in the hobbies, crafts and collectibles exhibits.
As she eyeballed the 4-H Milkshake Bar across the midway, Gerber asked for food and fun recommendations from another mother, who seemed to be familiar with the best parts of the fair.
In addition to the milkshakes, fair-favorite food suggestions included Pork-a-Leans sold by the Pork Producers, the beef patties at the Beef Producers building and the Boy Scouts’ mouth-watering, buttery corn on the cob.
Throughout the day, Abby and Greta experienced the flavors of the fair as well as the sights andsounds of the pig show, the other livestock barns, and the Family Fun Zone.
The fair continues through Monday, leaving plenty of time to enjoy a traditional, popular or new snow cone flavor.
