ASHLAND – It’s not uncommon to see a line of people, mostly locals, salivating at the ordering window at the Ashland County 4-H Dairy Bar.
“Anybody who know this dairy bar comes and gets a milkshake, regardless of what the weather is,” said dairy bar chairman Dave McQuillen.
At last year’s fair, 4-H volunteers sold 4,222 milkshakes, averaging more than 600 shakes per day. The dairy bar is a major fundraiser for 4-H as well as an opportunity for 4-H members to gain customer service experience while having fun at the fair.
This year, the popular concession building has been upgraded with a new floor as well as new cabinets and countertops. It has also been outfitted with two new commercial freezers and a few new blenders.
The 4-H committee celebrated the renovations with a brief ribbon cutting ceremony on Sunday, the opening day of the fair.
“We thank everybody for all their patronage over the years, and we ask everybody to come buy more milkshakes,” said Ron Neer, president of the 4-H committee.
The dairy bar offers several daily flavors like vanilla, chocolate, peanut butter and mint as well as a rotation of flavors of the day. New flavors of the day this year include blueberry, black raspberry, pumpkin, sweet caramel fudge, pina colada, cake batter and jamocha.
Neer said the renovations were needed. The floors were about 18 years old and the blenders were even older, he said. The committee also knew the freezers would need to be upgraded within the next few years to comply with health department regulations.
A majority of the approximately $3,500 project cost came from the 4-H committee, while the cabinets were given to the committee by an anonymous donor.
Next year, the committee hopes to upgrade the building once more with new lighting both inside and outside the booth.
Anyone interested in donating to the cause can conatct Ron Neer at 419-651-6991.
