FAIR BOARD … Fulton County Fair Board hears updates of the upcoming Spooktacular, scheduled at the fairgrounds October 13 through October 16. (PHOTO BY LINDSAY PHILLIPS, STAFF)
By: Lindsay Phillips
Fulton County Fair Board began their meeting at 7:00 p.m. on October 6 in Fulton Hall.
Following a call to order the floor opened for visitors to speak or introduce themselves.
Former commissioner, Bill Rufenacht spoke first asking the Board to allow the famous Eyes Of Freedom Memorial to be displayed in the Industrial Building.
The memorial honors twenty-three fallen Marines. Rufenacht addressed the board and stated, “In June to August 2005, at least 23 heroes, mostly of Ohio died in Afghanistan.”
“A renowned Columbus artist, Anita Miller took it on a mission to paint nine life size paintings of these men who sacrificed their lives to protect America. The shoes of the men are displayed below the painting.”
This traveling exhibit has been to three hundred and fifty sites, with recently being in Colorado, Wyoming, Oregon, Pennsylvania and five sites in Ohio.
With countless benefits to displaying the memorial it will be a great way to honor those who served and was approved by the board.
Spooktacular is set to take place October 13 through October 16. This is an Halloween event the fair has had for the past two years.
Numerous fun activities such as a maze, haunted barn, corn hole, hayrides and so much more. As a weekend event, there will be four hundred campers, which is also the capacity allowed for campers.
Rhonda Lovejoy, who helped originally started Spooktacular spoke on behalf of the event and stated, “We’re excited, I think it’s gonna be good, it’s grown a lot in the past three years.”
Next to share with the board was Bill Pacak. He began by sharing his dedication and love for the Fulton County Fair, he stated, “I appreciate this fair, I cannot tell you how much I love this fair and I realize how hard you guys work for it.”
Pacak went on to add, “What I’m proposing tonight is to talk about this, the fair is for everyone young and old, seniors have a hard time getting around especially when they have grandchildren with showings on opposite sides of the fair.”
“I realize that we have shuttles but I did work at gate H this year and getting a shuttle was like pulling teeth, I know they were busy, I know volunteers are hard to come by, but what it does is it leaves people out.”
Pacak asked the board to allow golf carts for those over the age of fifty who have a valid drivers liscense.
With multiple reasons as to the benefits of golf carts there is just as many restrictions that need to be in place to keep a safe and fun fair for all.
Some of these include signs, insurance, parking restrictions, curfews and inspections.
As a result of Mr. Pacaks request, President Ron Rice decided to table discussion until he is able to talk to the insurance company about furthering the process.
As the board moved to the evening’s reports, Treasurer Kelly Bentley shared the earnings from this past year’s fair.
To name a few, gate admissions made about twenty-one thousand with online tickets making thirty-five hundred.
The board moved to accept both the secretary and treasurer’s for August through September.
During new business the Board approved two gift cards for a job well done to one of their staff who came in and helped out tremendously at no charge.
Election will begin November 12 from 2:00 p.m. until 6:00 p.m. with a meal after while votes are counted.
Hearing none from old business, the board began to go around the table of members who wanted to speak.
Steve Aeschliman began his report by bringing up the fair bathroom cleaning company.
Aeschliman stated, “They didn’t have as many guys as he promised over the weekend, on the busy days they were supposed to have six for each shift and four the other days, but they handled things okay on the slow days and would answer the phone when I would call them over messes in the bathrooms so I can give them that as a plus, but we sure had enough complaints.”
Following discussion between board members, it was decided to continue keeping an eye out for companies who do large events such as the fair.
Neal Callendar of Chesterfield Township updated all in attendance on the hog barn building process.
Callendar shared, “We’re moving along, we got the beams in today and tomorrow we will start jacking her up then Monday she’ll be moving”
A depository agreement with F&M Bank was renewed approved by the board.
With no items left, the meeting was adjourned at 7:45 p.m.
Lindsay can be reached at lindsay@thevillagereporter.com
