Darke County Ag Society plans free Grandstand admission events

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DARKE COUNTY – The Darke County Agricultural Society Board of Directors met Wednesday evening during their Monthly Meeting.

During Public Comment, Tina McGillvary, Family and Consumer Sciences Educator, spoke on behalf of the Friday Sampler, which is held at the fair each year. She also brought two guests with her on behalf of the Towne Squares Quilt Club.

“We just want to be able to show our appreciation for us being able to use the fairgrounds during this time,” said Linda, President of Towne Squares Quilt Club. “The quilting is really growing and we really appreciate it.” 

McGillvary followed by asking for an increase in her budget for the Friday Sampler. Last year her Budget was $1,500 and she was under budget and spent $1,258.35. However, she expressed that this year she has the opportunity to invite a quilter from St. Luis, Missouri. She was asking for $2,500 to help her total costs for the event for 2025. Directors approved her budget for the 2025 Friday Sampler at the fairgrounds and also expressed that promoting the event may help with the success of the event. 

Also during Public Comment, Zach Kecelogou with Lisko Family Midway came to share some information regarding their proposal for amusement rides. They are Ohio natives from Youngstown, Ohio, and have been in business since 1961. They invited the directors to their tradeshow room at the Ohio Fair Managers Association Conference to have a further discussion regarding what they can offer for The Great Darke County Fair.

Amber Schlechty and Amy Rismiller were also in attendance and shared an update with the board that there is now a committee designated for the Covered Horse Arena Fundraiser. This committee has met a few times already and is working to get a plan together to present to the board. They plan on meeting with an engineer to get prices but they are and have done research on other facilities to get an understanding of what will best fit Darke County. 

Director Christoph Keller made a motion that the weekly pass be $25 up until July 31, 2025, and then be increased by $5, to $30 beginning on August 1, 2025, for membership and non-membership tickets. 

Director Craig Bowman made a motion that the Daily Admission rate increase to $9. However, within his motion, he also mentioned that he would like the proposed free events to be available for the general public. This includes the Free till Three event, a potential touch a truck event, an additional concert at a low price, and continued special free attractions. 

The Grandstand events were also approved for 2025 as well. There is a variety of free admission events this year for the whole family.

Friday will be the Cheerleading competition in the morning and the evening will be harness racing and both events will be free admission.

Saturday will be harness racing with free admission.

Sunday morning, Community of Faith Greenville Campus Church will host a free service and Sunday evening is the Travis Tritt concert with paid admission.

Monday is the Band Spectacular which will be free admission.

Tuesday is free admission for afternoon tractor pulls and paid admission for evening tractor pulls.

Wednesday there will be a veterans ceremony in the afternoon and a Cook and Belle concert in the evening for a low-cost $5 admission. 

Thursday will be a completely free Family Fun Giveaway event with family-friendly activities and the evening will be the Riegle Race with free admission. 

Friday is the motorcycle race following the Derby on Saturday evening and both events are paid admission events.

The Jr. Fair Sale and Celebration of Achievements will be held on Thursday, August 21, 2025, in the Show Arena at 5:30 PM. 

The Darke County Agricultural Society Board of Directors will hold its next meeting on January 8, 2025, at 7:00 pm.