Hardin County Agricultural Society Holds June Meeting

The Hardin County Agricultural Society met Wednesday, June 14, 2017, at the Hardin County Fairgrounds for their monthly board meeting, after not being able to hold a meeting on their regular scheduled date due to not having a quorum.  Thirteen directors and 5 guests were present.

 

Howard Lyle, President, called the meeting to order.

 

Mark Badertscher, representing the OSU Extension Office, stated there were 102 sheep/lambs weighed in and tagged on June 10th.  

Roger Crowe, County Commissioner, stated he was looking forward to seeing a full fairground on the day GOBA visits and on the 4th of July.

 

Correspondence was read from the Marion County Fair Board.  They will be celebrating the retirement of their Fair Manager, Candy Tripp, on July 4th from 6-7pm at the Marion County Fair Picnic Pavilion.  

Howard also read an email received from OFMA, about AEP having a rep. available to help lower demand rates.  This letter was referred to the Ground’s Committee.  

Jami Dellifield, Family Consumer Science Educator from OSU Extension, had given the fair office flyers discussing an on line training about Occasional Quantity Cooks Volunteer Training.  For more information on this on line training you can pick up flyers at the Fair Office or call the extension office at 419-674-2297.

 

Jim Bidwell spoke on behalf of the Grounds Committee.  It was noted the Hardin Community Foundation granted $500 for flowers, $500 for 20 vinyl chairs in the Community Building and $2500 for the new speaker system in the livestock barns.  The board moved to order 80 more chairs for the community building, to finish buying those.  Discussion was held on what was needed to be done for when GOBA visits next week.  

 

It was noted the Ag. Society is still waiting on the State Camping License.  There are currently 10 fair campers who have not paid for their camping spots for 2017.  Most of those are new campers for this year, but a few are past campers and those sites are being given to people on the waiting list.  Money for the camp sites were due on May 19th and they have been given an extra month to pay and no payment has been received by them.  The camping committee was able to accommodate around 15 new campers this year.  

 

Judi Cronley, gave an update on how ticket sales were going for the Lauren Alaina Concert.  Ticket sales continue on the Fair’s website through pay pal and in the office on Wednesday and Fridays from 9am-4pm.  The Fair Office will be open on July 4th for those wishing to purchase tickets that day.  Ticket sales have increased since Lauren received a CMT award for Breakthrough Video of the year.  The board moved to purchase $200 for a Facebook push for the Lauren Alaina Concert.  The board moved to give 2 track tickets for the concert, to the 50/50 raffle on the 4th of July.  The board moved to purchase cancellation insurance through Nationwide Insurance for the concert.  It was noted the Hardin County Fair Website has been updated.  The board moved to have Corey Ledley purchase a lap top to communicate to the TV’s in the Show Arena.   

 

Ray Davis announced who the goat show judge will be.  Howard Lyle discussed a USDA inspection that was recently done.  USDA forms were added to the retention policy in the office.  The issue with the Jr Fair Draft Horses was discussed.  It was noted having youth draft showmanship on both Wednesday and Friday, gives more exposure to draft horses.  Youth do not have to compete on the Wednesday Jr Fair Horse Show, they can just compete on Friday if they choose.  Youth draft horse exhibitors can compete on Wednesday and Friday is they choose.  Also there is no requirement for 4-H youth to participate at the fair, they finish their project at the interview judging.  Regular horse shows on Monday – Thursday during the summer were discussed.  Only horse shows being offered to youth are free during those days, if there are open classes, payment for the use of the arena needs to be made.  The horse arena is worked on Sunday of each week.  If there are youth horse shows being planned by clubs, the fair office still needs to be notified, so proper planning can be made.  

Livestock judges are still needed for the Wednesday Beef Show and Rabbit Show.

 

It was noted vendor and concession contracts deadline for payment was June 15th and follow-calls will be made next week.  There are several new vendors and concessions wanting spots and those people will also be called with available spots.

 

It was noted the Jr. Fair Board will be offering breakfast bags Saturday morning of GOBA.

 

It was also noted the Freedom Celebration on the 4th of July will begin at 12 noon with a full day of activities planned at the fairgrounds, right up to the fireworks display at 10pm.  This will be a day focused on honoring our veterans.  Mark Garmon stated Senior Citizen’s Day on Friday, Sept. 8th of the Fair will be the same as last year with the exception that Hardin Hills will be supplying the donuts.  

 

Under old business:  

Judi still needs judges for all non-livestock departments, except the flower dept. Box Seat letters were sent out at the end of May, with their due date being Friday, June 30th.  There were 3 directors and 1 guest who attended the District 2 meeting in Wapak. on June 10th.  

 

Under new business:

Jr. Fair entries can now be entered by going to the Fair’s website and they are due by July 31st.  The board moved to have a community group work as ticket takers for the grandstand events during the fair.  The board approved a design for the 2017 fair t-shirts.  The board moved to donate a fair t-shirt to the 50/50 drawing on the 4th of July.  It was noted Fair Work Day has been scheduled for Saturday, August. 19th.

The next regular board meeting will be Saturday, July 1st at 7:30pm.