TROY, Ohio – What do you do when you have a passion for a particular fruit and you want to let the entire world know about it? It’s simple. You create a festival to honor that fruit and invite the state to attend.

That’s just what William Fulton and his wife, Joyce, did when they helped create the Troy Strawberry Festival. The 46th annual event will be June 4-5. It usually attracts 250,000 to Troy, which has a population of 20,000.

Leaders of the Troy Area Chamber of Commerce assembled in the mid-1970s to explore the idea of starting a community-wide festival. Festival brain-stormers decided upon an event that would draw upon the resources and talents available in the area to raise money for community organizations and causes. Sweet Corn was the first theme suggestion and others soon followed. Organizers were trying to steer clear of fruit- and vegetable-honoring festivals such as corn festivals, pumpkin shows, apple fests and the like, as they were abundant across the tri-state region.

Whatever festival was chosen, the idea was to hold one in early June since it was ahead of many established festivals throughout the region.

The Fultons played a key role in the selection process, especially Bill, who was dead set at it being strawberries rather than corn. His idea was agreed upon by the entire committee.

And what a choice it was. No need for hunting down suppliers as the Fultons already produced many acres of the fruit thanks to their u-pick operation.

“Strawberries were chosen over corn because strawberries ripen in the spring before all the other competing festivals,” said Doug Trostle, one of the festival’s early organizers and the 1978 chairman.

“Bill was responsible, based on his experience and expertise, for recommending the festival be held the second weekend of June,” Trostle said. “Later on, the date was changed to the first weekend, but Bill was always willing to guarantee the participants would have berries, even if he had to purchase from farmers in Tennessee or Michigan, depending on the weather.”

Fulton Farms (located five miles from downtown Troy) was founded in 1954 as a small 40-acre farm. Today, the farm has grown to more than 2,000 acres of vegetables and small fruits. Bill turned his American dream into a reality when he founded this farm with his family. He was an innovator of the u-pick approach to marketing strawberries, which lead him to be one of the largest growers of strawberries east of the Mississippi River. He helped to found the North American Strawberry Growers Association.

While the Fultons dabbled in all types of fruits and vegetables, they were most fond of strawberries. And Bill had visions of being the key strawberry supplier for this festival.

The Fultons are synonymous with the Troy Strawberry Festival, but Bill Fulton’s innovation and influence in the industry extended far beyond.

A graduate of The Ohio State University, Fulton was inducted into the Ohio Agricultural Hall of Farm in 1995. The Agricultural Hall of Fame noted that he was a pioneer in the use of plastic mulches and row covers for production of vegetables and small fruits and in the use of center pivot irrigation systems and trickle irrigation.

William died in 2016 at 83, and producers who knew him won’t soon forget him.

“I would describe him as an icon in the specialty crop industry and the farming industry,” said Mike Pullins, owner of Champaign Berry Farm in neighboring Champaign County. “Bill was dedicated not only to his own farming operation but the whole industry, in Ohio and nationally.”

The Troy Strawberry Festival was scrubbed in 2020 and 2021 due to COVID-19. A scaled-down event – dubbed the Strawberry Jam – was held last season, but it didn’t have the draw that a normal Strawberry Festival would have. The 46th Troy Strawberry Festival, however, is expected to return to normalcy with roughly 250,000 expected to converge in historic downtown Troy and along the Great Miami River levee.

More than 100 arts and crafts vendors, a multitude of entertainment and thousands of quarts of strawberries will be devoured at this two-day event. This festival will include the annual strawberry pie eating contest, Strawberry Classic Run (5K and 10K), the Little Miss and Mr. Strawberry Pageant, tennis shootout and live music. This year’s theme is “Peace, Love and Berries.”

The strawberry-growing DNA runs deep in the Fulton blood still to this day. Their sons and grandsons are now running Fulton Farms and continue to pave the road forward in agricultural advancement and community outreach. They’re also instrumental in keeping Bill’s legacy alive and continue to be active in the success of the Troy Strawberry Festival. Fulton Farms will provide an estimated one-third of the strawberries used during the festival.

Fulton Farms is on Ohio Route 202 in Miami County, southeast of Troy.