Wayne County Fair’s 175th edition has something for everyone
For this year’s junior fair, 1,440 4-H and FFA exhibitors made 6,510 entries. Of those, 2,854 are animals, up 150 from last year, and 1,389 are market animals.
Reflections of the past and excitement for the new are themes running through the 175th Wayne County Fair Sept. 7-12.
The fair’s schedule features a variety of entertainment ranging from celebrity performers on the grandstand stage to a fiddling contest and square dance in the coliseum. Contests showcase all ages — from pee wee showmen and pedal tractor pullers to seasoned junior and senior fair exhibitors and tractor pullers from around the state. The Ohio State Tractor Pullers Association’s Saturday evening pull in front of the grandstand is a big draw for the fair, which this year marks a milestone.
A new sign erected at gate two notes the fair was established in 1849.
That year fair secretary Matt Martin said eight men took on the task of restructuring the Wayne County Agricultural Society, begun in 1933, to form a board of directors that would manage the first fair.
“Their vision was so much bigger than what they could have imagined,” he said. “(In keeping with their vision), we still remain a viable agricultural fair because we are intentional about it.”
Hannah Getz, Ohio State University Extension 4-H educator, reported 1,440 4-H and FFA exhibitors who made 6,510 entries. Of those, 2,854 are animals, up 150 from last year, and 1,389 are market animals.
A former agricultural education teacher who joined Wayne County Extension in July, Getz said, “It’s extra special to see that there are that many FFA and 4-H members who want to show at the fair.”
Also among the junior fair entries are 531 still and family and consumer sciences projects and 214 shop, crop and educational exhibits.
Getz is a native of Albion, Pennsylvania and comes from an agricultural background with both sets of grandparents in the industry.
“A fair I thought was big growing up actually is not big at all,” she said. “I’m Impressed, and I’m very excited to be part of this community and experience my first Wayne County Fair.”
Martin said 1,311 exhibitors made entries in senior fair departments, the most in 20 years. Joining him is another new face on the fairgrounds, Jarrod Snell, fair secretary in training. Snell will replace Martin, who is leaving the position at the end of the year.
To mark the 100th anniversary of the fair coliseum, fair directors renovated the structure with grant money. They painted walls, added fans and lighting, and removed some seating to make space for wheelchairs. A brass plaque was added to the building to commemorate the 100th anniversary in 2023.
Also new at this year’s fair:
—Ohio’s largest American flag will fly above the fair. The flag was purchased by the Wooster Rotary Club as a gift to the fair for its 175th celebration. The flag measures 40 feet by 80 feet and will be flown at the fairgrounds on special occasions. The other flag, measuring 30 feet by 60 feet, also was a gift to the fair from the Rotary Club.
—A temporary Verizon cell tower will be placed on the grounds to improve cellphone communication for customers at the fair. Martin said the temporary tower also will help neighbors in town.
—Credit cards will be accepted at all gates. Admission to the fair remains $4 per person.
—The Honoring Our Patriots service will move to the Fair Event Center for the presentation of quilts to Wayne County veterans on Wednesday, Sept. 11 at 8:30 a.m. The program is conducted by the Tree City Quilters’ Guild.
—A Catholic mass will be conducted at 7 a.m. in the Fair Event Center. It will be followed by the traditional church service at 9:30 a.m.
In the Junior Fair Building, several 4-H club booths will celebrate history. One of those is the Jefferson Pioneers, the oldest Wayne County 4-H club still in existence.
The Dalton Big Four 4-H Club marked its 80th anniversary by completing a group project in which families interviewed past club members. The recorded interviews will run on a loop in the club’s booth during the fair and also can be found on YouTube under the title Dalton Kidron Big 4 80th Anniversary Alumni Interviews.
Laurel Strasbaugh, who advises the club along with her husband Larry, said club members all learned something important from the people they interviewed. They got a better sense of things that came before them and how 4-H has evolved and impacted lives including the formation of lifelong friendships.
The club was named for its original four members — Laurel Strasbaugh’s father John Buchwalter and his cousin Myron Mumaw and friends George Winkler and Franklin Shanklin — in 1944. Strasbaugh’s grandparents Carl and Audrey Buchwalter were the original organizational advisers.
The committee that oversees Building 10 also will trace the history of 4-H with a timeline display in the building’s center aisle, starting with the founding of the organization in 1902 by A.B. Graham. Old photos including ones showing Graham when he visited Wayne County and projects will help tell the story of “4-H Through the Decades.”
The fair’s opening ceremony will be Saturday at 9 a.m. in front of the Fair Event Center flagpole. Special days at the fair are Wayne County Schools Day on Monday, Veterans Day (veterans get free admission with identification) on Tuesday and Senior Citizens Day (people age 65 and older admitted free) on Thursday.
The 8 p.m. grandstand shows are the Oak Ridge Boys on Sunday, Matthew West on Monday, Jeff Foxworthy on Tuesday and Buckeye Rodeos on Wednesday. On Thursday the Northern Ohio Mounted Shooters will perform in front of the grandstand from noon to 2 p.m., and the Smash It Demolition Derby will be at 7 p.m.