By Bob Strohm
bstrohm@wbcowqel.com

Perhaps it was the cooler weather, perhaps it was starting a week later, but one thing is for certain: attendance at the Crawford County Fair was up in 2015.

The 2015 Crawford County Fair had $76,183 in paid attendance, up $4,630 from the paid attendance in 2014. The 2013 Crawford County Fair had $57,642 in paid attendance.

Friday night, which featured OSTPA tractor pulls, was the most successful night with $14,809 in paid attendance. The biggest rise in attendance occurred on opening night which jumped from $8,870 in 2014 to $12,015 this year. Monday, which featured figure 8 racing, saw the largest decrease in paid attendance losing $1,299 from 2014 which featured a rodeo.

During Tom Laughbaum’s secretary’s report to the Fair Board he said that he received a letter from the IRS saying that the Crawford County Fair would no longer be recognized as a tax exempt non-profit organization. Laughbaum further explained that the next day he received an e-mail from the Ohio Department of Agriculture that said that would be the case for all of the fairs and that they would have to fill out a 1023 form.

Fair Board President Rebecca Starner then said that after Laughbaum had received his letter that she received a letter from the ODA saying that they will be filing the paperwork to keep the fairs as a tax-exempt non-profit organization. Laughbaum finished by saying that to try and keep the fair at its status will probably cost a few thousand dollars if the ODA doesn’t fill out the paperwork.

Lawnmower races may be coming to the Crawford County Fairgrounds during next Antique Farm Machinery Show after the Fair Board approved the races as long as the track is reverted back to the condition it was in before the races take place.

The Fair Board approved details for a gun raffle at the fairgrounds that will be held Feb. 6 with 12 guns with an average price of $500 each in the raffle.

Voting on the approval on a storage building for the 4-H Club’s concession stand was tabled until the 4-H Advisory Committee can return with pricing and the approval of the Junior Fair Board.

The Fair Board also tabled the proposed construction of a manure pad that would sit near the steer and dairy beef barns.