The final push for the 2014 Wood County Fair was the prime focus of July’s Senior Fair Board meeting held
on Thursday.
The meeting opened with a short presentation by members of the Junior Fair Board who sought and received
approval for allowing youth selling their animals at the sale to donate a portion of their proceeds to
the Wood County Fair Foundation, which is still in the process of being created.
Logan Browne, the junior board’s president, made the presentation with assistance from other board
members. The younger board wanted to be sure they worked with their adult counterparts with different
ways to build a "Barn Fund" which will be part of the overall foundation.
A form was created for each livestock exhibitor to either make a specific donation or to donate a
percentage of their sale proceeds.
As the letter from the junior board states, "As many are aware, our facilities are aging and will
soon become a danger to animals and exhibitors, hindering our fair from achieving optimal quality."
Once finalized, the foundation will provide funds for such things as the long-discussed livestock
exhibition center which would replace the older beef and swine barns along with the show arena which
sits between the barns. The County Livestock Action Group, known as CLAP, has set aside funds each year
for the last few years to help build a fund for such a complex before the actual foundation was
conceived.
The junior fair letter also noted, "Even small contributions have big results when we are all
willing to work together."
While the foundation funds will eventually be able to be used for a variety of projects, the Junior Fair
Board is seeking that the sale funds be designated specifically to a "Barn Fund" within the
foundation.
T-shirts touting the "Barn Fund" have also been created and will be sold with those funds going
to the fund as the youth say to be "raising the roof."
The youth have also organized the "Barn Fund" Cow Flop to generate funds. Open to everyone the
first 300 people who "plop" down $20 will be randomly assigned one of the squares in the Horse
Show Arena where a steer will be turned loose. If the steer "plops" its business in your
square you will win 25 percent of ticket sales up to $1,000.
You do not have to be present to win, but it should be an entertaining event.
The cow plop will be held on July 30 following the debut of the Calf Scramble, also to be held in the
Horse Show Arena.
Entries and payment must be received by 8:30 p.m. on July 30.
In other news, the senior fair board learned that the Fair Foundation paperwork is moving forward with
the final official vote to be taken later this year after all the official paperwork has been processed.
The board also briefly discussed the $21,000 which has been received to be used for purses as the harness
racing program. The money is specifically donated to that effort through the Ohio casinos and racinos.
The Wood County Fair runs July 28 through Aug. 4.