It Happened in Crawford County: Roger Auck and others prepare for the fair
Roger Auck is a son of Weldon and Martha Feichtner Auck. His siblings are Doug, Larry, Steve, Mary Ann Zeiter, Bonnie Maul and Connie Smith. Roger went to Buckeye Central and was also a member of the Cranberry 4-H Club. He took projects in electricity, woodworking and tying different knots in ropes. Fair time was a lot of fun, especially the fellowship and hanging out with friends.
Later, Roger married Judy Studer, who was also a member of the Junior Fair Board. When their girls, Annie (Jacob) Gosser and Becca (Nick) Kocher, began 4-H, they took their projects to the Crawford County Fair and on to the Ohio State Fair. Judy is currently the head of the Buckeye Central cafeteria.
In the meantime, Roger has been driving a truck for the Cole Distributing Inc. for about 35 years. He delivers gas, diesel and fuel oil primarily to farmers for their tractors and heating oil for furnaces. His route covers a big area — from Ohio 98 to Sandusky to Tiffin and Ashland. It can be a hard job, but he likes meeting different people.
Roger also helps his father-in-law, longtime farmer Clarence Studer and his wife Lucy, with his grain farm. The farm is east of New Washington on Ohio 103 in the direction of North Auburn close to Roger and his family. Roger and Judy also raise 60 to 80 Holstein feeder calves.
After the daughters were finished with 4-H, Roger enjoyed the fair so much that he filled out a petition and got a required number of signatures from Crawford County Agriculture Membership Society. If it’s filled out correctly, it’s put on the ballot and if you have the needed votes, you are then on the Fair Board.
Roger represents Auburn Township; of course there can be a representative from each township. Bucyrus and Galion are large enough to have their own representatives. The other villages in Crawford County fall under their townships. New Washington, for instance, doesn’t have a representative since it is represented by Cranberry Township. That happens in different areas of the county, too. The maximum is 24 board members which includes the members at-large. In other words, each township has a representative.
Roger doesn’t have to be in the office weekly but keeps in touch to find out what needs to be addressed. If a meeting is necessary, that’s what gets done. Tom Laughbaum has been the treasurer for many years, Rebecca Starner is the secretary and Greg Lutz, a farmer east of Bucyrus, is vice president. They have an executive committee: Don Frombaugh, Ned Lucius and Amy Hughes. If questions arise, they meet once a month to take care of the normal business. One big new edition is the building to house the 4-H and Ag Extension, Junior Fair Board office and Senior Fair office, the 4-H lunch stand and a new meeting room.
Prior to the fair it requires a lot of planning as they work to get the entertainment for each night. Different committees are in charge of the different events, and they all work together to make a successful fair. It can be bands in the park gazebo or the calf scramble — 14 and older is calves, 9 to 14 is sheep and for the little kids it's chickens. They try to halter the calves and sheep, and the little kids try to catch a chicken. Roger says it is really fun to watch. They have guys getting ready for the tractor pull on Friday nights and the demolition derby is planned for Saturday using old cars. The last one running is the winner.
They put up a new barn this year for the people who keep racehorses here year-round They also have horse racing at least nine races a night for two nights. The Junior Fair has been a big part of the fair with the kids showing their goats, dairy feeders, steers, hogs, sheep, rabbits, chickens, alpacas, dairy cows and horse shows. The Senior Fair has open shows from all around, such as steer, sheep, hogs, and a jackpot and carcass show. Many people attend the fair for the comradery, to camp and visit, and to enjoy fair food, etc.
The 2022 Crawford County Fair is scheduled for July 18 to July 23. The fair ends with the Junior Fair livestock sale, and the demolition derby is at night on Saturday. Roger says he just want the fair to be there for his grandchildren, and he hopes the fair will be going strong so he can watch them show just like he did with his children.
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This article originally appeared on Bucyrus Telegraph-Forum: It Happened in Crawford County: Trucker, fair board member Roger Auck
