All 11 members of the Fair Board were present at this month’s meeting.
An attendant of the meeting brought up that there were continuously cats dumped on the fairgrounds, especially in the area of the horse barns. The individual is trying to solve the problem with the help of the Humane Society and their program “Trap, Neuter and Release” since quite a while, often paying the expenses out of her own pocket, but there are always new cats being dumped.
The Board members voted to purchase video cameras, which will be added to the surveillance system and they hope that license plates of those who dump the cats can be captured and provided to the police department as evidence.
The Junior fair reported that 2 of the Junior Fair participants will participate in other events: GraceLynn Harter will be spending two weeks at the State fair, serving at the State’s Junior Fair Board. Paige Gehret will participate in the Dean’s Charity Steer Show.
The Junior Fair will for the first time be holding “The Heart of Darke Show”, a show that give disabled people a chance to show livestock together with a Mentor.
The Rain Insurance issue was shortly discussed but then tabled to the next meeting, to give the Board members a chance to submit questions for the 2 insurance agencies to the Fair Manager.
Tim Reck, president of the Harness Horsemen Association, reported that the horsemen who rent the stalls on the fairgrounds are trying to maintain the barns (in previous meetings, the Board approved the purchase of material to repair stalls). To keep the costs for the repairs low, Tim suggested to sell advertising on the barns. His proposal is putting 3×4 advertisement signs on the barns with a sponsorship of $500 resp. $250 (depending on the visibility) with a 5 year commitment. The businesses would need to provide the signs. The motion passed 9-2 (Greg Pearson and Jim Zumbrink voted no)