WEST MEAD TOWNSHIP — While nearly everyone knows that the Crawford County Fairgrounds is transformed into a small city each year for a week during the county fair, many don’t realize that events go on there year-round.

Despite that, the county does not generate enough money by renting the facility to pay for maintenance and upkeep of the grounds.

For example, in 2010, the county generated $89,255 in revenue from the fairgrounds. However, $50,000 of that was from the county fair board, which was repaying a loan for the construction of the grandstand, meaning the net revenue for the county for rentals was $39,255. The cost of maintaining and operating the facility for 2010 was $159,362. The actual county loss for 2010 then was $80,107 — meaning that was the amount county residents subsidized the operation.

That subsidy has become an issue in this year’s election for county commissioner. With two of the three long-serving incumbent commissioners choosing to step aside, this year’s race is viewed as an historic opportunity to shape the county’s future by electing a new majority. As a result, those who see the fairgrounds as an underused money-loser are calling on the candidates to offer ideas for improvement.

Those who defend the fairgrounds claim looking at rental revenue versus expense is shortsighted. The events there, and the free use of the facility granted to county government-related groups, make up for the difference, they argue. The paid events there draw in people who spend money locally, they say, and free use of the grounds is provided to a number of educational groups. The problem is that no effort has been made to determine exactly how many people and how much money the events draw into the community or the value of the education provided by the groups that use the grounds for free.



Details on fairground use

Who are the people who use the fairgrounds nearly every weekend during the summer months? The answer is people from many walks of life. Many are those with animal-related events — such as horse shows, cattle sales and harness races as well as 4-H clubs with goats, cows and other animals.

Others are those seeking a different kind of entertainment — such as tractor pulls or auctions.

Still others are members of county-related educational organizations, such as 4-H and FFA, the county Cooperative Extension, and even governmental entities, all of which are granted free use of the grounds.

The 2011 booking season shows that of the 30 days in April, eight had something going on at the fairgrounds. They included a tree sale, a Crawford County Holstein Club event, 4-H and FFA events and more.

In May, events were scheduled for seven days, but on many of those days multiple events were held at the fairgrounds. For example, West Mead Township had two days of township cleanup days, the Riding and Sliding Horse Club had horse shows and an auctioneer rented one building for an auction — all on the same day.

The month of June was busy, with all four weekends booked solid in addition to other events. A tire collection was held one day. Kowntee Wyde 4-H Club held a horse show two days. Meadville Sertoma Club held its annual two-day event which featured not only harness races, but a flea market and tractor pull.

Between 200 and 250 harness racers competed in Sertoma Club event alone.

The Sertoma Club sponsors the annual Jimmy Moore Christmas party for needy children in Crawford County and the event is part of the club’s fundraising effort.

July is also a busy month with the annual Penn-Ohio Morgan Horse show — a three-day event over the July 4 weekend; 4-H horse shows and other activities every weekend. A circus used the grounds midweek.

The Penn-Ohio Morgan Horse Show has been at the fairgrounds for 35 years, according to Mike Schell, a woman who helps organize the event.

Horses this year were from Michigan and New Hampshire as well as New York, Pennsylvania and Ohio. This year, 169 horses competed. In addition, she noted that trainers bring young stock to qualify.

The show also has a charitable connection as the group chooses a charity to receive a donation from each year’s proceeds.

Members of 4-H clubs across the county will converge on the fairgrounds on Aug. 5, 6 and 7 for their annual round-up. This was started some years ago when there were so many members they could not all be ensured slots to compete at the Crawford County Fair as it had grown so big. The number of 4-H’ers who will compete those three days total more than 200.

Those who win at round-up then may compete at the fair itself.

The eight-day fair also uses the fairgrounds, but all expenses related to maintenance of the fairgrounds for the fair are paid by the fair board. That includes maintenance work the week before when workers are preparing for the fair, the week during the fair and the week after.

The remaining 49 weeks of the year are accounted for in the “fairgrounds” line item that is part of Crawford County government’s budget.

Although many activities come to an end when school start, that is not the case for use of the fairgrounds. For example, 20 of the 30 days of September have events scheduled at the fairgrounds this year. Five days are for a Civil War group, five days for a Holstein Show, five days for a “Pink Ribbon” horse show to benefit cancer; and then the TEA Party has a day scheduled at the fairgrounds and a two-day training session for emergency services is scheduled.

Only two days are booked in October so far.



Winter blues and calls for change

To date, there are no events scheduled through the winter months. However, there have been in the past. Before he was a county commissioner, C. Sherman Allen booked the fairgrounds to host a winter demolition derby. He did so to answer many calls for something to do at the fairgrounds during the off-season. However, with freezing weather and falling snow, that event wasn’t a financial success.

Many groups have tried other events and were not successful either. One group had a concert at the fairgrounds with a low attendance.

One thing that does happen every year is the rental of storage space for boats, cars or other things at the Youth Show Area from the first two weeks in November to the first two weeks in April. The arena usually is filled to capacity.

In order to get more at the fairgrounds year-round, some people are calling for county commissioners to think about turning over the fairgrounds to a separate authority. The group would be tasked with promoting and managing the grounds with the aim of generating enough revenue for the facility to at least pay for itself.

Fair Board President Walter (Boots) Dunn disagrees. Dunn said he doesn’t believe the fair board would want that responsibility, nor does he think it’s necessary to form a separate authority. “That’s just too much expense,” he said, noting that starting an authority often involves hiring manager.

He said if people go to the fairgrounds during the summer they will see it is a busy place — busy with events benefiting many people — not only charities, but local businesses — while giving people some entertainment at reasonable costs. To him, that’s what the fairgrounds is all about. Dunn’s father, W.L. Dunn, was a county commissioner and instrumental in getting the fair — and the fairgrounds — started in the 1940s. The younger Dunn has been at the fairgrounds every year since. He’s seen how often it is used.