(PHOTO PROVIDED / THE VILLAGE REPORTER)
DONATION … Reitzel Tractor—Reitzel Ag Equipment donated a tractor to the Williams County Fairgrounds. The tractor will be a great asset to the fairgrounds and be able to assist in may of the fairgrounds needs. The donation comes at a perfect time as fair season is just ahead.
By: Jenna Frisby
THE VILLAGE REPORTER
jenna@thevillagereporter.com
The Williams County Fair Board (Agriculture Society), met for their regular scheduled meeting on Thursday, July 18th I the Thaman Building on the fairgrounds located in Montpelier. President Pam Goll called the meeting to order at 7:03pm.
The meeting began with the pledge of allegiance followed by a roll call. Present for the meeting were: Board Members: President Pam Goll, Vice President Tom Fry, Ti Belding, Scott Carroll, Tobi Fenicle, Jason Fry, Matt Kennedy, Dave Page, Auxiliary Directors: Josh Balzer, Chad Carroll, Caleb Haines, and Secretary Katie Winebernner. Also Present were several members of the community.
Business then was conducted as Goll asked for an approval for the meeting minutes from their May regular meeting. However, with a typo error being found those were tabled until their next meeting.
Goal then requested for a motion to approve the meeting minutes from their special July 8th, 2024 meeting. Page made a motion for the approval of those minutes which was then seconded by Kennedy with no contest.
Goll also sought for a motion of approval for the May 2024 regular meeting minutes of the treasurer’s report. Page made a motion for the approval of those minutes which was then seconded by Carroll with no contest.
Committee reports were then given. Discussed were the tickets for the schools. At this time there just needs to be contact made with each school so that the board knows how many tickets each school needs for the fair.
November 2nd, 2024 will be the last day for storage at the fairgrounds, after that it will be by appointment only. Scheduling for the ticket office is currently being worked through for fair week.
The July 6th goat show had a net profit of -$347.91 after all expenses. There were 246 goats in the show this year. However, there were several divisions with very few goats. The board will further look into the breakdown of divisions for next year’s goat show.
A new tractor was donated to the Williams County Fairgrounds by Kenny and Jimmy Reitzel of Reitzel Tractor—Reitzel Ag Equipment. The tractor will come in great use to the fairgrounds for the fair this year and the board is thankful for such an incredible donation.
The fair board has been having some trouble getting sponsors this year; in order to combat that expense, they have had someone donate a car to be raffled off the week of the fair. At this time the board does not have a set date that the raffle drawing will be on, but more information will be provided soon.
Judges for both the fair and the livestock have been secured. Open entry for the fair will be August 1st through the 14th. Livestock judges will be for the categories of sheep, cattle, pigs, and dairy.
Old business discussed was in regard to the 18×24 grey granite plaque to honor past 2016 Williams County Fair Queen, Crista Wortkoetter, for her achievement of being the only queen from Williams County to be crowned as Ohio State Fair Queen.
Wortkoetter was crowned Ohio State Fair Queen in 2017. The plaque will be donated by Fackler Monument, and they also will be covering the cost of engraving. The plaque is set to be done and placed in time for the fair.
Goll then informed the board that the 2024 fair books are done and complete. They have been sent to the printer and should be printed any time now.
Sponsors for the books covered the entire cost this year and the fair was actually able to make a little money off the books this year. The fair book consists of 76 pages and will be available online as well as in print.
Hog Pen Donations have come in and the fair has received a total amount (both pledged and received) of $48,000 towards the pens. The pens will be ordered this next week and should be completed before fair week.
New business discussed involved if there would be able to be a golf cart for Tom Fry this year as he will be working with gate keeping. After discussion it was discovered that there would be an extra golf cart for him to use.
Goll then informed the board that after some number crunching it was decided that they would not be doing daily wristbands for the fair.
If they did choose that route, it would have ended up costing the fair 2.5 times more than the tickets that they use. Therefore, they will be sticking with the tickets/passes they usually use.
The board then voted on the February Flea Market dates to be February 22nd and 23rd. Kennedy made a motion to approve those dates, seconded by Tom Fry and the rest of the board was in agreement.
The board also discussed a few open running positions for the board. There are open positions at this time on the board and for future members. Anyone interested in being a board member or auxiliary member can contact the fair at 419-485-3755.
With no other business to discuss or to be brought before the board Page made a motion to adjourn their meeting at 7:37pm. Motion was second by Tom Fry and the rest of the board was in agreement.
The Williams County Fair Board will hold their next regular scheduled meeting on Thursday, August 15th at 7:00pm in the Thaman Building located on the fairgrounds.