By JULIE CARLE
BG Independent News
The Wood County Fair Board agreed to lower the daily gate admission from $10 to $8 per person for the 2025 Wood County Fair.
Approximately 25,000 people paid the $10 fee to attend the 2024 fair, which “was significantly lower (attendance) than in years past,” said Fair Board President Paul Perry. While the hot weather was a major contributing factor to the lower attendance, there were also many discussions after the fair that the $10 price “deters people from coming to the fair,” he added.
The 25,000 attendance number does not include people who purchased membership or exhibitor passes, vendor passes, junior fair members or children nine years old and under.
The board members were split on the idea of lowering the price. “It’s a good gesture to drop the price back a bit,” Perry said.
The most current $10 price was set after several other fairs talked about increasing prices during the annual fair managers’ convention several years ago. “Everyone said they were increasing prices, so we voted on it and thought everybody was doing it, but not everyone did,” he said.
Some of the bigger fairs still charge as low as $4 and $5 at the gate and “they are just packed,” said Fair Director Doug Michaelis.
“We don’t have that much here on the grounds. We have rides, animals, and food vendors, but we don’t have a lot of the extra stuff,” said Fair Director Dave Nietz. “You pay ten bucks for a meal, five bucks for a drink on top of the $10 to get in and a family of four is paying over $100 to attend the fair.”
Fair Director Steve Speck pointed out that reducing the price will negatively impact the fair budget. “If you cut the fee in half ($5 was the original price suggested), you wouldn’t have gotten 50,000 to attend to make up that difference,” he said. “I don’t think a $2 to $3 change on the ticket price is going to make a big enough influence on the additional attendance to offset the economic difference.”
The final vote was 12 to 7 to reduce the gate price to $8 per person. No changes were made to the $5 vendor passes or the $30 membership/exhibitor passes.
Board requests 2025 fair dates
One of the first steps in planning for the next fair is to determine the dates. The board requested July 27-Aug. 3, 2025, for next year’s county fair dates. The Ohio Department of Agriculture must approve the dates before they are finalized.
The fair dates’ request and the daily gate prices were voted on as the board hopes to move more quickly on details for next year’s fair.
“We are hoping to get the Fair Books in people’s hands in April,” Fair Director Jessica Nagel said. With that timeline, the schedules and rules for their departments and committees need to be turned in by end of January, she told the board members.
The board approved the next steps for Director Deanne Corken’s plans to set up a Farm to Market project for the fair. Brock Abke, a fair director and member of the grounds committee, met with Corken to find a good location for the kid-friendly activity. They decided the activity would work best in a 150′ x 75′ area behind the Weston Depot.
Two existing structures are in the vicinity that can be used for storage in the off-season, Abke said.
An extra set of train rails also sits in the area. They will be offered to Weston, which plans to move the depot back to the village at some date in the future. Fair Director Don Bechstein, who talked to the Weston mayor recently, said there appears to be no timeline for retrieving the depot from the fairgrounds.
Corken said she has applied for a grant to get funding for the project; she will update the board each month about the progress.
On Feb. 22, the board will host a purse and gun raffle fundraiser in the Pratt Pavilion. The idea, borrowed from a similar event by the Allen County Fair Board, hopes to raise $35,000 or more through ticket sales and raffles during the event.
Ticket prices, which have not yet been set, would include a meal and the chance to win five guns and four purses. Early bird tickets will be eligible to win a sixth gun. Additional raffle tickets will be sold during the event for a chance to win additional guns and purses. As details are finalized, more information will be announced.
The Wood County Pork Producers plan to have their own Pork-a-Lean food stand again next year after working with the Beef Producers in one stand for several years. Fair Manager Laura Westgate reported they submitted a plan to build a new, larger stand in their original location along the race track.
Bechstein suggested asking the pork producers to consider moving their location to avoid the long lines that often block the midway. The board approved the request to expand the size of the building by four or five feet and will meet with them regarding the possibility of moving locations.
Also at the board meeting:
- President Paul Perry reported that Kip McDowell turned in his resignation from the board, effective at the end of the August meeting.
- Amanda Barndt requested the use of the Pratt Pavilion for the third year of the Ring of Dreams Livestock Show for next year’s fair.
- Dates for the July, November and December board meetings were moved from the fourth Thursday to the third Thursday of the month. The election of officers was set for Aug. 3 from 1 to 6 p.m. in the Junior Fair Building.
- Fair Manager Laura Westgate announced there will be no extensions allowed in the spring for items stored in buildings on the fairgrounds over fall/winter.
- The board delayed posting the two open fair board positions–one each in District One and District Two–until January.
