New manager of Crawford County Fair is getting a 'whole new perspective'

This year's Crawford County Fair, July 17-22, will include a new grandstand event, a new building, a new manager and a special day for local veterans.

For the first time this year, veterans will be admitted to the fair free on Thursday with their military ID cards, said David Staat, who became the fair manager last fall.

"We'd been talking about it for a while, then we had a couple of veterans come forward" to request the change, he said.

Bernie Kessler, first vice commander and adjutant for Sons of the Legion Crawford Squadron 181 in Bucyrus, who organizes the annual bean soup dinner for veterans each year, said he welcomes the change.

"We've gotten veterans saying, 'Well, you know, I can get a free bean soup dinner, but it cost me $4 or $5 to get in the fair," Kessler said of past years. "Now this year, it will be a little different and the fact that they can get in free. So hopefully that will help us increase our attendance."

While there's no cost for veterans, Kessler stressed that everyone is welcome to eat.

"It's open to the public; we just ask that maybe the public would make a donation," he said. The meal will be served 5 to 7 p.m. Thursday, July 20, in the Youth Building at the fairgrounds.

Events added to schedule this year

Staat said he has been "very busy" preparing for his first fair as the event's manager.

"It's a lot more than just being on the board, now that I'm the fair manager," he said. "It's a whole new perspective of things."

The fair board's office has been moved to the new multipurpose building west of the grandstand. The building also houses the Ohio State University Extension and Junior Fair offices.

During fair week, the Junior Fair concession stand will be based in the multipurpose building's kitchen. The Lykens Township Volunteer Fire Department will serve its breakfasts from the kitchen, too.

A rodeo, Bulls and Barrels, has been added to the schedule on Tuesday evening. It starts at 7 p.m. Grandstand admission is $10.

Another new attraction, Andy Rotz's "Wild West Showdown" will be offered every night at 6 p.m. and 9 p.m.

"He does some stunts with fire, and things like that," Staats said.

There will be a pig scramble at 7 p.m. Saturday in the show arena. Exhibitor K-9 Krafters will be doing some dog behavior demonstrations in the gazebo area throughout the week, he said.

Musical performers will be featured in the gazebo Wednesday through Saturday evenings, Staats said.

Other grandstand events during fair week are old favorites. The calf scramble will be at 7 p.m. Monday, July 17. Harness racing is Wednesday and Thursday, July 18-19.

The OSTPA tractor pull will begin at 7 p.m. Friday, July 21, and the week's events will wrap up with the demolition derby at 7 p.m. Saturday, July 22. For those two events, grandstand admission is $5; pit passes are $10.

Admission to the fair will be $10 for anyone taller than 36 inches, but that includes rides, Staats said. "You can ride rides all day," he said.

Tickets can be purchased in advance through the fair's website, crawfordcofair.com. This year, for the first time, people also will be able to use credit cards at the two walk-in gates. Credit cards also can be used at the grandstand gates on Friday and Saturday nights, he said.

The Junior Fair royalty contest will be 3 to 5 p.m. Monday, July 17, in the Youth Building. On Thursday, in addition to free admission for veterans, senior citizens will pay $5 at the gate.

This year's Senior Day event, presented by the Crawford County Council on Aging, will have a beach party theme. The events, from 9:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. in the youth building, will include bingo.

Bean soup dinner starts at 5 p.m. July 20

The Senior Day event will be followed by the bean soup dinner, which starts at 5 p.m. with a POW-MIA ceremony, Kessler said. The ceremony reminds diners of the veterans who can't be there because they were either missing in action or prisoners of war, "that were never recovered and brought back home," Kessler said. Jeff Gibson, a veteran from Carey, has presented that ceremony for 25 years.

After the ceremony, there's a prayer and then the meal is served.

The bean soup and cornbread are donated by veterans' groups and service organizations all across the county, Kessler said — usually they have about five or six roasters full of soup, each made using a slightly different recipe, because "nobody's bean soup is ever the same." Some groups make a cash contribution instead. Volunteers help serve the meal.

"It just comes together, believe it or not," he said.

Most years, the money donated during the meal goes to the Gifts for Yanks program at the Ohio Veterans Home in Sandusky, although sometimes the collection has benefitted a local charity, such as the Crawford County Veterans Memorial Society. The Gifts for Yanks fund helps cover the cost for essential items such as toothpaste, deodorant, shampoo, personal hygiene items and clothing for the home's residents, Kessler explained.

Kessler said he's not sure how long the bean soup dinner has been an annual tradition at the fair. He has been the event chairman for 12 or 13 years now. Before that, Chuck Chrisman took over for the late Harry Love, who started it "many, many, many years ago."

"It's veterans serving veterans, really," he said.

Kessler said he's hoping that since groups from all across the county contribute to the event, people from all across the county will come to enjoy it.

"And, you know, if there's harness racing that night, so hopefully the people that go to harness first and will also come to get some soup and support the veterans and the organizations that take the time to do this," he said.

ggoble@gannett.com

419-559-7263

This article originally appeared on Bucyrus Telegraph-Forum: Crawford County Fair will include new attractions, old traditions