Fairgrounds to be lit up for holidays
The Auglaize County fairgrounds will be awash with lights this holiday season.
Meeting Saturday, the Auglaize County Agricultural Society learned the display, sponsored by Grand Lake Health System, will be called the Gift of Lights.
Fair Manager Ed Doenges said the plan is to charge $10 or $15 per carload — depending on the day of the week. That goes against the $20 fee suggestion offered by the company providing the displays.
Doenges wants to be in line with other county light displays — an in fact, wants to offer a pass that will allow the purchaser to also visit similar displays in Allen, Van Wert and Mercer counties.
The lighting company does the hands-on work.
“They come in, they supply all the materials to help set it up. We run the gates and we split the gate,” Doenges said.
He expects online resale tickets will be available soon.
In other business Saturday, in the meeting held before the annual election, board members extended an offer to extend Doenges’ his contract with a 3.5 percent increase, along with an updated holiday schedule. They offered bookkeeper Dennis Dicke the same raise. Both offers will be considered by the next board meeting.
Board members voted to increase their food allowance $5 per day, taking to total from $140 to $175 at the suggestion of board member Toby Lee.
Lee said food at the fair costs more than it used to and noted this marked the first increase in several years.
Dicke warned that if board member total compensation went over $600 they would have to issue tax forms.
The Piehl Arena project is moving forward. A request for qualifications has been sent to six different local contractors. So far only Baumer Construction has responded. The project includes an addition, shaped like a silo, which will include restrooms.
Two digital advertising signs have been hung on Auglaize Street. The final installation is ongoing.
Doenges also suggested replacing locks to stay ahead of needs for winter storage as well as replacing locks for several area buildings on the fairgrounds at a cost of $5,200. Doenges said they might be able to save some money by installing a few locks themselves. Board members voted to move forward with lock re
placement.
He also announced their intent to install speed bumps open the grounds, through a safety grant.
No one was contested during the annual election. Mike Etzkorn will continue to represent Duchouquet Township, Amy Felver will continue to represent Noble Township, Doenges will continue to represent St. Marys Township, Joe Huelskamp will represent Pusheta Township, Brad Steinke is the member at large and Cindy Poppe represents Logan Township.