By JULIE CARLE
BG Independent News
With the 2023 Wood County Fair just weeks in the rearview mirror, the Wood County Fair Board started to lay the groundwork for next year’s fair.
The board agreed to request July 28-Aug. 4 for the 2024 fair. The dates have to be approved by the Ohio Department of Agriculture before they are considered official. This year (2023) was the first year that the fair moved its fair dates from Sunday through Sunday, a change from the usual Monday-through-Sunday schedule.
Officers for the new year were elected. John Nissen was named president; Josh Nutter, first vice president; Paul Perry, second vice president; and Kathy Thomas, treasurer. The secretary position will be named later.
The fair committees will be determined by the next meeting. Nissen asked member to let him know if there are certain responsibilities they might not want to do. He plans to “push for outside help, so I’d like to get that done sooner rather than later. We’ve done a good job, bu we need to get things nailed down in the winter before people are outside and getting busy,” he said.
The individuals who won the fair board elections held during the fair were officially inducted during Thursday night’s board meeting. Tony Violi is the only new member to the board, representing District 2. Incumbents Donald Bechstein and Jonathon Shinew (District 1); and Deanne Corken, Brock Abke and Paul Perry (District 2) were sworn in. Jessica Nagel, who won the director’s seat for District 3 was not at the meeting.
The premium checks for all the junior fair and open class winners and sales are expected to be sent by Sept. 15. The fair office is waiting for some of the sponsorships and buyers’ monies to come in to cover the premiums. Also, everything needs to get printed, verified, and double checked before sending them out this year.
The overall financial results for this year’s fair are still unknown as invoices continue to come in as well. A report is expected at the September meeting.
Amanda Barndt thanked the board for supporting her request to host the inaugural Ring of Dreams. They had 43 individuals show animals and 35 junior fair members participate. Barndt also requested that the event be moved from a 4 p.m. start to 6 p.m. to allow more people to watch the show after traditional work hours.
“Amanda did a great job,” said Director Paul Perry. “It was a heart-warming event.”
In other business, the board:
- Heard the Wood County Museum is featuring people involved with the Wood County Fair over the centuries as part of its Living History Day on Sunday, Aug. 27 at 2 p.m. at the museum. Deanne Corken suggested some of the directors should consider attending since the fair is being featured.
- Learned from Bob Strow that the beef department will have a meeting Monday (Aug. 28) at 6:30 p.m. and the sale committee will meet Thursday (Aug. 31) at 6 p.m. Both meetings will be held in the Pratt Pavilion.
