GREENE COUNTY FAIR WILL HAPPEN IN MODIFIED FORMAT
Annual Greene County event scheduled for Aug. 2-8 ‘will not look the same as prior years.’
The Greene County Fair will go on as scheduled this year in a “modified” format, fair organizers said.
“There will be changes to every aspect of the fair as this is not a normal time in our lives and society. The Board is ready to go forward with a modified Greene
County Fair,” a statement said on the fair’s Facebook page.
In a letter to fair boards across Ohio on Tuesday, Gov. Mike DeWine sent a joint letter with Ohio Senate President Larry Obhof, Lt. Gov. Jon Husted and Ohio House Speaker Larry Householder, informing the boards of two available grants to help make this year’s fairs possible amid the pandemic.
The letter stated that each fair that conducts a junior fair will receive $50,000 and fairs that do not conduct a junior fair this year will receive $15,000 that can be used toward next year’s fair. If a county already canceled its fair, it can apply for a new date with the Ohio Department of Agriculture.
The letter also included two pages of new guidelines for boards to follow to allow the fair to be conducted in a safe manner. New guidelines include crowd control measures in all areas of the fairgrounds and heightened sanitation policies.
“We know that in this summer of the coronavirus, it will be hard to conduct junior fairs in a manner that is safe for everyone, but that also will work financially,” the letter stated. “The four of us have been working to come up with a solution to these challenges.”
The 2020 Greene County Fair is scheduled to take place Aug. 2-8.
Fair Board President Dan Bullen said the grant was a surprise to the board and that it will help going forward with this year’s fair.
“We will continue to work with the Health Department to ensure that all aspects of the Fair are safe for everyone that attends the 2020 Greene County Fair,” read the post on the fairgrounds Facebook page. “We will make weekly posts on Facebook and on our website. Please remember this year the fair will not look the same as prior years and some events will not be held at all. These changes are only for 2020 at this time.”
Contact this reporter at 937-225-2207 or email Sarah.Franks@coxinc.com.