DARKE COUNTY —The Darke County Agricultural Society met for a work session on November 14th, 2024. Directors discussed gate and pass prices, concert announcement dates, and an update on the new building.
Many ideas and numbers were thrown around for gate and pass prices. Someone mentioned having separate prices for residents and non-residents. During the discussion, it also came up that Darke County charges less than some fairs that offer fewer special attractions when looking at other fairs.
Although it was a work session, the Directors concluded that daily admission should be raised to $9, a $2 increase. Weekly passes will be $25 before July 31st and $5 after August 1st, totaling $30. The directors proposed that this may be helpful with camping and other pre-entry registrations that require the pass to be on hand before the fair.
Director Heidi May briefly spoke on special attractions and her hopes on who will be returning and who she’d like to bring to the fair for 2025. The board agreed that $20,000 on top of what was spent last year is a fair budget to bring in some new and interactive attractions.
Directors discussed an announcement date for the 2025 concert which will be announced November 27th. It was also said that ticket sales would tentatively start on December 2nd, 2024.
Director Christoph Keller gave an update on the new building. He shared that Keller Grain & Feed donated 14 8-foot tables, a table rack, and 40 chairs to be used for rentals of the building.
Director Christoph Keller also shared that he was approached by the pastor at Community of Faith Church to have a church service at 11 am on the Sunday of the fair. Directors agreed to allow him to move forward with his service. There will be a total of three different church services available for the public to attend.
There was also some brief discussion of having a Christian Concert on the Wednesday of the Fair for minimal expense. There was no final decision but there was discussion on finding out additional information and bringing it back to the board.
This was a work session, so there were no motions or finalized decisions made.
The Darke County Agricultural Society Board of Directors will hold their next meeting on December 4, 2024, at 7:00 pm.
