The fair comes roaring back

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“Pat, wake up! You were laughing in your sleep,” Ralph Doak said as he shook me awake.

We were juniors in high school, and Ralph had invited me to camp out with him at the Clinton County Fair for a week.

The sleeping bag was warm against the cool morning air blowing into the small tent camper. Ralph had to nudge me several times before I was fully awake. It was time to face the day.

Within seconds I was face-to-face with the morning sun. I stumbled, like Steve McQueen after he’d been released from solitary in the movie Papillon, to the old, cold block restroom near the race track.

“We sure had fun last night, didn’t we?” I said to Ralph.

“I guess that is why you were laughing,” Ralph said with a smile.

The Clinton County Fair and Ralph Doak went hand-in-hand, like peanut butter and jelly, ham and cheese, or Joey Votto and the donkey.

Ralph was a man before his time in many ways. He had a camper behind the hog barns, a popular meeting place for friends — girls and boys alike.

The Broadway play, Camelot, was about one-year-old.

“It’s May, the lusty Month of May, That lovely month when everyone goes blissfully astray, it’s here, that shocking time of year, When tons of wicked little thoughts merrily appear.”

Although it was the second week of August, not May, love or at least infatuation, was always in the air, particularly for teenage boys, hoping to meet a girl at the fair.

For many growing up in Clinton County it isn’t considered summer until the fair rolls around. The Clinton County Fair was a special place for many of us then, and still is today.

The world changes and the fair is no exception. The old, wooden grandstand was torn down many years ago. The cigar stand that Charlie Lieurance ran for 48 years underneath the grandstand is gone, too.

The Jaycee dunking machine, where the high school cheerleaders volunteered to sit on the small platform high above the big steel tank of cold water, and where the high school boys gathered around for a variety of reasons, long ago moved on.

Kings Island was built just a few miles down the interstate, making the local midway and rides seem small and insufficient. The crowds dwindled and the enthusiasm waned. People began to stay away from the fair. Times were lean.

Then along came the Corn Festival. Some thought it was the predictable knock-out punch that would make the fair obsolete. The fair was no longer the place to be in the summer in Clinton County, and there was very little hope of recovery, or so many thought.

The Fair Board tried many new ideas to strengthen the fair and bring back the crowds. Year after year they tried. Some years were better than others, but the uniqueness seemed to be gone.

This past Sunday evening marked the 50th time I have visited the fair. Brenda and I noticed the crowds had come home and a certain charm had returned to the grounds.

When I was a boy, John Gumley and the other implement dealers always brought a bunch of farm equipment to the fair. I remember climbing up and down the tractors and sitting behind the steering wheels, acting like I was a farmer.

Well, the farm implements have returned, and children were climbing on them once again. Only the faces had changed.

The fairground was clean and safe. The concessions were busy. The animal barns were full. There is excitement again.

The return of the fair didn’t happen by accident. The Junior Fair Board, guided by Mike and Judy Cowman and their team, have made many changes to better serve the 4-H members. The Clinton County Agricultural Society Board, led by President Scott Gerber, developed a strategic plan. The infrastructure has been strengthened.

The Fair Board overhauled the Dealership Building. Leaking water lines have been replaced throughout the fairgrounds. The Expo Center was remodeled and brought up-to-date. A brand new entrance has been built running from Nelson Avenue into the fair parking lot.

Most of the old buildings have been upgraded with metal and paint. A new grandstand roof was built to shelter fairgoers from the sun and rain.

The hog barn has a new roof, and the infield now has a second new tractor pull track. The block restrooms have been remodeled as well.

Thanks to the support of Speaker of the House Cliff Rosenberger and others, there is now a brand new, modern horse barn sitting where the old one used to stand.

A few years ago, the odds of a recovery were not favorable. It is heartening to see the local and state officials, along with the Fair Board, and the community, pulling in the same direction, in unison and in concert with one another.

Now, the fair is back.

It is enough to make me laugh again.

Pat Haley is a Clinton County Commissioner.

Pat Haley Contributing columnist
http://www.wnewsj.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/22/2017/07/web1_Pat-Haley-1.jpgPat Haley Contributing columnist

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