By CELESTE BAUMGARTNER
Ohio Correspondent

HAMILTON, Ohio — It should be a good year for Ohio county fairs, said Dan Martin, president of the Ohio Fair Managers Assoc. (OFMA).

“With the high gas prices, I anticipate that the fairs will be a good attraction this year because people won’t be traveling as far away from home,” Martin said. “The fairs are about the cheapest value you can have for your entertainment dollar.

“There is funding for all 4-H programs in the state of Ohio in each of the counties. Each county fair will have an educator to run their 4-H program – at least that is what we’ve been told by The Ohio State University extension.”
Ohio has 94 county and independent fair systems. Each system has to apply annually to the director of the Ohio Department of Agriculture to get its fair dates assigned so nearby county fair dates don’t overlap.

“Obviously, more than one county fair is going on at the same time, but the counties are not near each other,” Martin said. “Also, no gambling is allowed during the fair and local health rules must be followed.”

There is not a lot that is new at the fairs – they’ve been going on for so long that most everything has been done and redone, Martin said. Livestock displays are always a big attraction and almost all fairs have animals, some more than others.

Fairs are a family tradition, he explained. They are a good meeting place, a place to visit with people one might not have seen all year.
“You visit at the fair, you watch the grandkids and great grandchildren show, it is a meeting place of farm, urban and city families that exhibit in all the departments at the county fairs,” Martin said.

“Fairs are a good, wholesome visiting place with good entertainment and good fellowship.”

Every fair system has a representative in the OFMA, which holds an annual convention; Ohio’s convention is the largest in the country. The Ohio Fairs Queen is elected there – this year’s queen was Lara Staples from Brown County.

“I wish all of the fairs a successful season and invite everyone to join us at Butler County (he manages that fair) and visit the surrounding county fairs,” Martin said. “I think they’ll be pleasantly pleased with what they see at our county fairs throughout the state of Ohio.”

For more information and dates, visit www.ohiofairs.org