MANSFIELD – Despite weather limitations, the Richland County Fair enjoyed a number of bright spots last week.
According to Jason Snyder, president of the Richland County Agricultural Society, the fair welcomed strong crowds for the two nights of tractor pulls and the rodeo — despite the rodeo being cut short due to rain.
“We had two nice nights of tractor pulls with good turnout, and the drag racing was a big turnout,” Snyder said. “Wednesday and Friday nights, I don’t think we got done on the infield until after midnight because of big turnouts there, we’re happy about that.”
Other bright spots included the return of live poultry exhibits after last year’s bird flu outbreak, and the unveiling of $115,000 worth of renovations to the fairgrounds. However, the happiest moment came at Saturday’s livestock auction.
“Businesses really came out and supported the kids and all their hard work,” Snyder said. “We had a sale of Walker Ramsay’s hog for his memorial scholarship fund, that was phenomenal for the community to come together and donate over $50,000 towards that.
“It says a lot about our community and the support they have for us.”
According to the Crestview FFA, students Abby Motter, Kelcie Chance, and Justin Bond were showmen in the Market Hog show on Wednesday evening. Justin Bond honored the memory of Crestview’s Walker Ramsay by showing his friend’s market hog.
In addition, Snyder praised ride company Bates Amusements for its professionalism.
“The ride company works with us so well, they do a great job and fighting the weather like they did this year,” Snyder said. “They sat by us and helped out as much as they could.”
Overall, high temperatures and stormy weather triggered a negative impact on attendance. Snyder noted attendance was down 30 percent at the fair due to hot temperatures during the day and the threat of rain almost every evening.
“We’re definitely at the mercy of the weather, and nobody wants to come to the fair when it’s 95 degrees and 100 percent humidity and a chance of rain,” Snyder said. “That was tough on us, but hopefully we can get through it and get planning for next year.”
Low attendance numbers also transferred to Monday’s country concert, headlined by Granger Smith. While Snyder was discouraged by light ticket sales, the concert itself did not disappoint. He noted the fair hopes to attract bigger country stars in the future.
“We used to have big-name entertainment and everybody looked to see who we were bringing – we’ve had Alan Jackson and even Garth Brooks,” Snyder said. “Everybody says they want country music entertainment, but it’s tough to do and suffer a loss on it every year.
“Our entertainment buyer tells us it’s going to be a three-year venture to get it back to where it was.”
Despite money being on the short side heading into next year’s fair, Snyder was thankful and optimistic about this year’s fair outcome.
“I want to say thanks to everyone on the board that was there to help,” he said. “We’re all volunteers, every one of us was up doing something and we couldn’t do it without them.”
