By Kimberly Pistone
For the Sidney Daily News
SIDNEY — SIDNEY – The Shelby County Fair Board discussed the livestock building replacement, the eclipse, and the raffle, and other topics, at a meeting on April 17.
Derek McCracken gave an update on the livestock building project. His team has found a few donors, but more are needed. Currently, in addition to securing donors, he is working on signage for the fair this summer and a one-page website to be included on the Fair Board website.
The current discussion for the livestock building, in addition to the need for donors, is the need for stamped drawings. The board asked about getting these drawings done locally, as well as what is “Plan B” if they are not able to get enough donations. McCracken said that “Plan B” would be discussed in the fall if necessary, but that he felt confident that there will be enough monies through donations and some grants he is applying to.
During the eclipse there were seven food trucks, six campers and 17.5 cars that paid to park. The 0.5 represents a veteran who was given a discount after asking. The food trucks brought a lot of traffic onto the grounds. Food trucks were packed with long lines. The board is potentially looking into having a food truck weekend next April. Feedback from the campers was positive and the Fair Board made close to $3,000 in profit.
The board has sold 266 raffle tickets so far. Each board member needs to sell at least 100 tickets to get to the goal of 3,000 tickets. The board has also secured a spot at the Great Sidney Farmer’s Market for the summer to sell tickets.
The board continues to discuss the safety plan for campers with the EMA. This safety plan will be a part of the packets for campers during the Fair.
Bill Clark said that sponsorships for the fair have been coming in and there are a lot of new sponsors this year.
Additional topics discussed include replacing the eight fans at the Booth Building and the pony barn update. Currently the pony barn is unused, so it is being repurposed into storage. In order to do this, they had to move the electric panel and are getting quotes to install a garage door.
Shelby County Maintenance Supervisor Chris Roediger said the water line project is coming to an end. They still need to tie in the restroom and midway. They unexpectedly had to put in a new line to the milk parlor, which is where they found a leak and discovered the need for a new water heater. The water heater was replaced Monday – it had to be done quickly because cows were moving into the barn for the Holstein Show that began the same day.
Katie Hughes, 4-H Youth Development Educator, said she needs the scales moved to the sheep barn for weigh-in of sheep and goats on May 5 for the junior fair, as well as needing a certified weigher. Also, June 22 is the date for the rabbit tattooing.
At the OFMA Spring Meeting, the Shelby County Fair was recognized by the Greater Ohio Showman’s Association as Best Fair.
The next fair board meeting will be held on Wednesday, May 15, at 7 p.m. in the secretary’s office.
