Press release and staff report
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Crawford County residents are very in tune with what’s happening at the 2015 Ohio State Fair, but none more than Aryn Copeland who is also in step. Copeland is a Wynford senior and has been selected as a member of this year’s All-Ohio State Fair Band.
It is the third year in which Copeland has been a member of the state fair band for which she plays the F horn. In addition to her band responsibilities, Copeland will be busy at this year’s Ohio State Fair participating in the Poultry Skill-A-Thon and Junior Fair Rabbit Show.
Copeland is the daughter of Carl and Lauren Copeland. She is president of the Lykens Champions 4-H Club, 4-H Camp counselor, and treasurer of the Crawford County Junior Fair Board. The senior is just as busy at school as she is with 4-H and the local and state fairs. Copeland is a past president of the Wynford FFA chapter, a member of the National Honor Society and participates in both cross country and track.
Copeland is also active in her youth group at the Nazareth Lutheran Church and still finds time to work at Cooper’s Mill in Bucyrus.
Copeland was selected to the state fair band by Director Donald Santa Emma, as were all band members, based on recommendations each student’s high school band director. There are 200 members in the All-Ohio State Fair Band.
The selection process includes applications which are mailed to Ohio high schools in February and accepted until the end of March. Selections are made in late April.
Members of the band report to the fairgrounds before the fair opens for three days of intense playing and marching rehearsals. AOSFB members reside in dormitories located in the Rhodes Center on the fairgrounds during the fair.
At the fair the AOSFB will present about 90 performances at various venues throughout the fairgrounds and beyond. Sunday, Aug. 2, the band presented a concert at the Park of Roses in Columbus. This Thursday the band travels to the Meyers Memorial Band Shell at Brookside Park in Ashland for an 8 p.m. concert. This year, for the first time, the band will perform at the Sale of Champions in the Celeste Center on the last day of the fair.
This is the 91st year that the band has performed for the fair. It was originally organized as the All-Ohio Boys Band by Jack Wainright of Fostoria in 1925. The first females were accepted as members in the late 1970s.
The Ohio State Fair runs through this weekend.